'Not happy at all': Craig Bellamy takes aim at 'complacent' Storm despite gritty win over Panthers
The Storm may have gotten their revenge over the Penrith Panthers on Thursday, but Craig Bellamy was not impressed by acts of complacency he saw on the field.
Melbourne survived a rollercoaster battle against the four-time reigning champions, who were left to fill the gap left by Nathan Cleary who was knocked out after eight minutes of action.
Coach Ivan Cleary labelled Penrith "very brave" considering the fierce challenge his team posed until the final whistle while battling their own major obstacles.
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But the atmosphere differed significantly in the home team sheds as Bellamy conceded he was "disappointed" in his team's performance.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy speaks to Nine's Cameron Smith post-match. Nine
The veteran coach admitted he felt his players had opened the gates for Penrith to bounce back and adopted a mentality that it would be an "easy" win without Cleary.
"I'm not happy at all," Bellamy told Nine post-match.
"It was a really good start but we got a bit complacent which I don't really like that in our team.
"Perhaps we could've kept going but when Nathan went off that was probably a (thought of), 'Oh, their main man is gone. This is going to be easy now'.
"You don't say that to yourself but it sort of comes back.
"Having said that i was really happy with the decision to take the two points.
"I'm pretty disappointed to be quite honest."
When asked if he believed his team became complacent once Cleary left the field or after scoring 14 points, Bellamy replied: "I think it was a little bit of both."
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With Penrith hunting a fifth consecutive premiership this season, Bellamy insisted the Storm needed to recognise that the battle was never going to be simple.
"We should've realised that we know Penrith have been in the last five grand finals and won four of them," he continued.
"They know how to win. They've been such a successful club for such a long time.
"They know how to win and they know that even if they lose a couple of key players that they are still going to play will, they are still going to know how to win."
