The Storm\u2019s potential pursuit of Broncos centre Gehamat Shibasaki will likely be raised at a recruitment meeting on Friday afternoon, with coach Craig Bellamy caught off-guard by the news before he jokingly asked whether the rep star could join them next week. <\/p>\n
The Broncos have a fight on their hands to keep Shibasaki, who is set for a huge pay rise after making his Queensland and Australian debuts last year having also led the Broncos to premiership glory.<\/p>\n
Having lost that grand final, the Storm are now weighing up whether to go after the attacking weapon, given they will lose Nick Meaney and Will Warbrick to rivals in 2027 and also missed out on signing Zac Lomax.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t actually know (about) that,\u201d Bellamy said on Friday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re having a recruitment meeting today so I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to come up there, but I haven\u2019t heard that (the Shibasaki interest).<\/p>\n
\u201cCan he come next week or the week after?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to concentrate on what our job is and make sure we get it done. But anyone would be welcome at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Storm have bigger fish to fry right now after they were flogged at training this week on the back of conceding 78 points in two games.<\/p>\n
That included giving up 50 to the red-hot Panthers last week, with defence a huge focus for Bellamy after watching his side lose three games in a row. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just think a lack of effort at the moment (is hurting us),\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re relying on the bloke next to you instead of getting your job done. So there\u2019s a real focus on not worrying about the bloke next to you and just getting your job done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (we\u2019ll see a response) with our attitude, but if they don\u2019t then we\u2019ll get the same result that we\u2019ve got the past three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
They get the perfect chance to bounce back in front of a sold-out crowd at home when they take on a Warriors side they\u2019ve beaten 17 times in a row.<\/p>\n
But history means little for Bellamy when you consider the players he\u2019s lost and the form they\u2019ve shown in recent weeks. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not worried about what happened five years ago or two years ago,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to get back to reality, and that\u2019s what\u2019s happening now. What\u2019s happening now ain\u2019t good so we need to improve that this week. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the two weeks before, we had leads that we should have hung on to, and then last week we were wiped off the map.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t like any of those situations happening, but they have so we\u2019ve got to deal with it. It\u2019s time for everyone to pull their finger out and get their job done.\u201d<\/p>\n