Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy lamented his side’s “soft as butter” defensive performance and was “disappointed” he could not send the club’s departing veterans out on a better note.
The Storm was dumped out of the NRL finals after a shock 28-20 defeat to the Canberra Raiders at AAMI Park on Saturday night in an uncharacteristically leaky performance from Bellamy’s troops.
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The hosts conceded 16 points in the first half and only had eight on the board themselves thanks to a Xavier Coates double.
Despite improvements in the second half, it ultimately proved futile as the Green Machine held on for a famous victory.
Bellamy couldn’t hide his frustration in his post-match press conference at his side’s inability to keep the Raiders at bay, especially since it was the most points the Storm had conceded in over two months.
“We let too many points in,” Bellamy said.
“In semi finals or finals games, letting the opposition score 28, they scored a couple of soft ones too. Ones that over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been defending well.
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“A couple in the first half were soft as butter. That was disappointing.
“At stages we defended well but again, I don’t know where those tries actually have come from. Our defence let us down for that. Like I said, it’s disappointing.
“It’s been a hard year and a long year with the injuries that we’ve had and a few other things happening. I thought the guys did a good job to finish where we’ve finished, but just to go out on that performance, especially defensively, was disappointing.”
The defeat to the Raiders was also the last time Brandon Smith, Felise Kaufusi, Jesse and Kenny Bromwich will pull on the Storm shirt for the foreseeable future.
Smith is headed to the Sydney Roosters, while Kaufusi and the Bromwich brothers are moving up north to link up with Wayne Bennett at the Dolphins.
Losing Kaufusi and the Bromwich brothers is a massive blow, especially since the trio have spent a combined 29 seasons with the Storm.
Bellamy reserved special praise for the departing stars as he now looks to fill the leadership void left behind by the group.
“They’ve been tremendous for us, all of them,” Bellamy said.
“Jesse and Kenny have been since 2008, that’s a long time, and they’ve done a lot for our club.
“For me, I’m so disappointed today. It’s more about for them, I think they deserved to go out on a better note than that.
“But like I said, they’ve done a wonderful job for us here. Felise has come here and followed his two brothers here. He’s been here longer than them, but he’s turned into a State of Origin and an Australian player during that time. The other three have played for New Zealand.
“They’ve done a lot of great things for our club and they’ve done some really great things for themselves since they’ve been here in rep teams. Like I say, it’s just disappointing we’re sending them out on this note, to be quite honest.”
