Storm bracing for an aerial bombardment

MELBOURNE Storm expects an aerial assault from North Queensland after the minor premier was found to be vulnerable under the high ball last week.

The Wests Tigers set up a two-point boilover last Saturday night at AAMI Park by shelling the back field with bombs, the catalyst for clumsy Storm errors.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he expects the Cowboys to deploy similar tactics to unsettle the likes of Suliasi Vunivalu, Josh Addo-Carr and Billy Slater.

“I imagine they will,” Bellamy said. “There was a little bit of confusion with the back three at times on Saturday night, so hopefully we’ve sorted that out and those guys will be able to communicate a bit more clearly this week, so we know who’s catching and who ain’t.”

Cowboys ace Johnathan Thurston is the best exponent of the floating bomb, while playmaker Michael Morgan, set to return from an abdominal injury, boasts an elite kicking game as well. A loss in the Round 3 blockbuster, which doubles as Thurston’s last stand in Melbourne and Vunivalu’s 50th game, would relegate the Storm to its worst start to a season since 2008.

“They are all big games — it doesn’t matter what round it is,” Bellamy said. “You don’t get more points in Round 2 than you do in Round 17.

“It’s not really about the two points or about the win — it’s obviously what we’re all out there to do, but it’s about improving on what we’ve done.”

Because of the five-day turnaround Storm has been unable to attack training with gusto this week.

“It is a bit hard to get a gauge [on improvement] with the lack of training this week, so I suppose we’ll see tomorrow night,” Bellamy said.