Cronulla playmaker Todd Carney admits last week’s loss to South Sydney could serve the Sharks well for the NRL’s ultimate test against Melbourne on Sunday. The Sharks’ six game winning streak ended when the Rabbitohs beat them 34-28 on Monday night. “It probably drives us a bit more. It’s a bit of a kick in the backside to start working harder,” Carney said ahead of the Storm clash at Toyota Stadium. “I think we got a little bit complacent during last week and it showed in certain areas of the game. We’ve forgotten that game and have moved forward to Melbourne.” Cronulla’s already tough task could become even harder with inspirational forward Paul Gallen expected to miss the game with a knee injury suffered against the Rabbitohs. “It would be a big loss but we’ve got a big forward pack and players that can fill his position,” Carney said. “Players are just going to have to pick up their numbers and I’m confident with our forwards that we can do that.” Carney admits coming up against Melbourne’s big three of Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith is daunting but says it’s a matter of sticking to a simple game plan to shut them down. “A lot of teams wish they had the answers but you just have to try and starve them the ball, completely. That’s half of it. Once they’ve got the ball you have to defend well and it’s a task,” he said. Worryingly for the Sharks they have conceded 56 points in their past two matches against the Rabbitohs and Canberra. They meet the best team in the competition who are shooting for a 10th straight win with Melbourne racking up 76 points in the past fortnight. Storm coach Craig Bellamy is wary of the Sharks, who have scored 72 points in their past two matches. “They’re a good attacking team. For the past few years they’ve been a pretty good defensive side, just dour with the footy,” Bellamy said. “This year, they’ve got a lot of options, and set structures they can do different options off. Obviously Carney’s been a big part of that along with (Paul) Gallen. “We’ve certainly improved our attack, but Todd’s made a real difference (to the Sharks). Not only his ball-playing and kicking, but as we saw on Monday night his running game.”