Bellamy talks up Storm

IN an ominous warning for their NRL title rivals, Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy can’t recall a better finals preparation for his team than this season. But Bellamy has rubbished talk the title is the Storm’s to lose.

Ahead of their qualifying final against Parramatta this afternoon at AAMI Park — where they will also celebrate captain Cameron Smith’s new NRL games record — Melbourne feel their build-up has gone to plan.

Given they’ve only missed the finals once — when stripped of points for salary cap breaches — in his 15 seasons as coach it’s a big call.

“I can’t remember going into a finals series in the form that we’ve had, winning seven games straight leading into the finals,” Bellamy said.

“After Origin there’s usually a period where we recover and try to discover a bit of form again but this year it’s been smooth and our health’s good.”

Describing the finals as a new competition, Bellamy said winning the minor premiership didn’t mean the title was a formality — proven last year when they lost the grand final to Cronulla.

“Where we finished in the comp now doesn’t matter,” he said. “We’re really proud to be minor premiers but it’s a different comp now and what we’ve done in the last 26 weeks, hopefully we’ve learnt from that.

“But that doesn’t guarantee you nothing tomorrow or next week.”

Winning nine of their past 10, the Eels had one hiccup against Newcastle, which Bellamy said appeared to have shocked them into season best form.

“They’ve got a couple of really good halves pushing them around the field,” said Bellamy.

“They’re an aggressive team and they’ve got one really special player there in Semi Radradra.

“We copped the brunt of that last time we played, he had about 200 metres up in the first 10 minutes.”

Smith will be honoured with a medal after his 356th NRL appearance post match, for surpassing former Brisbane great Darren Lockyer’s record.