Coach Craig Bellamy has expressed profound embarrassment after Melbourne Storm suffered a humiliating 48-6 defeat to South Sydney Rabbitohs in their Anzac Day clash, marking a historic low for the club. The Rabbitohs ended a 28-year, 21-match winless streak in Melbourne with a commanding performance at AAMI Park on Saturday night.
Historic Defeat
The loss was Melbourne's sixth consecutive this season, a sequence not seen since 2002 under former coach Mark Murray, before Bellamy took over in 2003. It was also the Storm's worst result at AAMI Park and their heaviest defeat anywhere since 2003.
Bellamy, who has coached 613 NRL games and played 150 for Canberra over a 44-year top-grade career, said: 'Probably the most embarrassed I've ever been in my footy life, to play like that tonight. The opposition played really well, but to come up with a performance like that and a lack of effort like that on Anzac Day is embarrassing. Tonight was just a standout from our other losses, to be quite honest.'
Rabbitohs Dominate
South Sydney captain Cameron Murray admitted even he was surprised by the margin. 'Yeah, probably a little bit, it's never easy coming down here. Not having won down here, it's pretty special to break a drought like that.'
The Rabbitohs were nearly unstoppable in the first half, racing to a 24-0 lead with five tries, including a double to winger Alex Johnston. Latrell Mitchell, named Anzac Medallist, was instrumental, setting up the opening try in the eighth minute by batting a ball to his winger.
Melbourne's first-half statistics were dire: they completed only 12 of 19 sets, made no line-breaks compared to Souths' eight, and committed seven errors. Mistakes by Sua Faalogo and Nick Meaney directly led to Rabbitohs tries.
Second Half Struggles
Bellamy delivered a fierce halftime spray before leaving the changeroom, entrusting senior players and assistant coaches to find a solution. The Storm appeared to score early in the second half, but the bunker ruled Trent Loiero had knocked the ball on as he attempted to ground it.
Tallis Duncan compounded Melbourne's misery, brushing off Cameron Munster and Jack Howarth to score his second of three tries. Campbell Graham also grabbed a double, crossing for the visitors' eighth try in the 66th minute.
Faalogo finally broke the Storm's drought three minutes later, scooping his own short kick-off and splitting the defence for a brilliant individual try—Melbourne's first line-break of the night. However, Souths had the final say with Duncan's third four-pointer.
Injury Concerns
The only blemish for the Rabbitohs was the loss of Brandon Smith to a recurrence of a calf injury that had limited him to three games this season, though the club believes the issue is not serious.
With only two wins this season, Melbourne faces the real possibility of missing the finals for the first time under Bellamy. Their challenge could be even greater if star halfback Jahrome Hughes is sidelined with an arm injury sustained during the match.
