Storm back Bellamy as Grant says injuries no excuse for loss streak

Harry Grant has refused to use Melbourne’s mounting injury list as an excuse for the Storm’s historic losing streak as pressure mounts on the under-siege club.

The Storm are staring down the barrel of six consecutive losses for the first time in club history, having lost five-straight for just the second time under Craig Bellamy, and the first time since 2012.

The Storm entered the season following the shock retirements of Ryan Papenhuyzen and Nelson Asofa-Solomona, while Eli Katoa was ruled out for the season with a brain bleed.

Prop Tui Kamikamica is taking a slow recovery after suffering a stroke in recent weeks, while winger Xavier Coates is still at least two rounds away from returning from his off-season Achilles injury.

The Storm return home to take on the Rabbitohs on ANZAC Day, where Grant believes the losses will serve as a wake-up call for the team over the volatility and competitiveness of the competition.

“You can't use (injuries) as an excuse. You've seen the Broncos on the weekend, they had half the team out, and they still had the want to go on and win a game of footy,” Grant told SEN 1170 Breakfast.

“I think for us, it was probably a little bit of a reminder that you've got to sort of turn up ready to play every week and give it your all, especially in today's competition. Any team can beat anyone on its day.

“There's a little bit of combination teething work that we sort of need to continue to work through, but I think the want to turn up and really compete and create our own luck through working hard (is still there).

“At the moment, we're sort of losing more than we're winning, and, if we can sort of fine tune that… we'll be well and truly in more games.”

The Storm’s form slump is unprecedented territory for many of the side’s players, no one more so than Craig Bellamy, the man who has led the Storm for over 20 years.

As the club navigates their foreign position, Bellamy has appeared short of answers in his press conferences, but behind closed doors, Grant insists the Melbourne stalwart knows the way to pull the Storm out of their slump, and that the results aren’t far away.

“He has been good, to be fair,” Grant said.

“He sort of understands the game at the moment where we're at. He's definitely disappointed in a few games with our defensive efforts and the fact that we've sort of let leads up.

“I think four out of the five games, we're only losing by a try or so, and you look at some of those tries, they're definitely very avoidable within our system, within what we value.

“I think that he can see that it's not that far off, but the more we keep losing games of footy, it doesn't put you in a good position.

“It's definitely not fun (sitting next to him at press conferences), and, you know, you turn up every week to win games of footy, and I think it's no different.

“I'm disappointed in not getting the results, but that's why Craig's been so successful over the years, because he puts so much time into winning and at the end of the day, that's what he's here to do… to get the best out of us as footy players, and ultimately, that leads to winning games.

“That’s when it solves a lot of things.

“At the end of the day, like I said, we're taking steps in the right direction, and as long as we continue to do that, then the four points that we're sort of missing by at the moment, we can turn that around.”