NRL: Nonplussed Bellamy ponders which side will face the Storm

AAP

20 Sep, 2011 05:30 PM2 mins to read

Craig Bellamy. Photo / Getty Images

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is not sure which Warriors will turn up for Saturday night's NRL preliminary final.

Will it be the courageous team who rallied in the final minutes to overcome Wests Tigers, or the error-prone side who were thrashed by Brisbane in their qualifying final?

With an NRL grand final berth at stake at AAMI Park, Bellamy hopes the latter. "I think it's followed a bit of their form throughout the year," said the Storm coach. "They started with three losses and then had five wins on the trot and then another four losses and then five or six wins.

"Obviously, they wouldn't have been happy with their performance in Brisbane but it was a tremendous performance against the Tigers.

"I was really impressed with how they came back, they never looked like giving up and were definitely the dominant team in that last 15 minutes."

The Warriors beat the Storm 18-14 at the same venue earlier this season, one of only two teams to down Melbourne on their home soil in 2011.

Overall, Melbourne's record is 14 wins from 28 games against the Warriors, the most memorable loss coming in the 2008 qualifying final when the eighth-ranked New Zealanders upset the minor premiers.

Bellamy believes it is this match that the Warriors have built their reputation on as the Storm's hoodoo side.

"I don't think it's quite as bad as you guys [in the media]) make out," Bellamy said.

"I think a lot of it goes back to 2008 when they beat us here.

"Everyone seems to think they've got the wood on us but this year it was 1-1, last year it was 1-1, the year before we only played them once and we won that ... I don't think there's a whole lot in it but if you want to make a story of it, off you go."

Bellamy put his side through a telling training session on Saturday to make sure they had their "game heads" on.