Craig Bellamy could not hide his frustrations after witnessing the Storm blow yet another comfortable lead, in what has been a mixed start to the season.
Melbourne were leading by six points at half time against the Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday before a late resurgence by the latter turned the game on its head.
The hosts crossed for three consecutive tries in six minutes to steal a 28-24 victory, following a similar path to that of the Broncos just one week ago. Only in that match against the reigning premiers, Melbourne led 16-0 at half time.
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The disappointment of losing the match was only amplified by the fact North Queensland stole the victory in the final minutes by exploiting the Storm’s defence.
That was never going to sit well with Bellamy, especially not considering his team have suffered back-to-back losses following two big wins to open the season.
Craig Bellamy prepares to speak to media post-game. NRL
“I’m just frustrated,” Bellamy told reporters post-match.
“The last two games were won after us having good leads … That’s the frustrating thing.
“Why? We all have a different opinion – but you do have to give the opposition credit. In both second halves, last week and this week, they played really well.
“But that pattern there – we just don’t want that to keep going. We need to try work it out or get a little formula where that hopefully doesn’t happen too often. It’s a worry.
“Hopefully we can get some honesty from the players (about this).”
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In both the round three and four matches, Melbourne made uncharacteristic errors that proved costly, though both times they had fewer errors than their rivals.
However, the timing of those errors punished Melbourne.
Two kick-off errors resulted in tries for the Cowboys on Saturday.
“Errors are one thing … but it’s the lack of willingness in contact that is concerning me a little bit,” he said.
Harry Grant added: “We’ve just got to clean up our act.
“We have to be willing to dig deep and defend in those periods of time.”
Harry Grant. Getty
Grant took accountability for missing three conversion attempts.
Typically Nick Meaney would hold that responsibility, but Grant was happy to learn what standards must be met by a player to be able to step into that role.
“Maybe if I kicked goals we would’ve won,” he said.
“We sort of realised in the pre-season that there’s not much back-up (behind Meaney), so I had to do a little bit, but it’s still a work in progress.”
Melbourne now turn their attention to a clash with the Panthers – the only team yet to be defeated after four rounds.