The Storm have been on the receiving end of a shellacking at the hands of the Rabbitohs, blown away 48-6 at AAMI Park.
The loss is the biggest ever at Melbourne’s home ground, and it marked the club’s sixth straight loss, the first time that has happened in Craig Bellamy’s coaching career.
The Storm looked all at sea from the outset as the Rabbitohs blew them off the pitch in the opening 40 minutes on Saturday night, running in five tries to zero.
Alex Johnston crossed for an early double before the Rabbits turned its attention to the right edge with Campebell Graham, Matt Dufty and Tallis Duncan all crossing.
Errors and missed tackles have proved costly for Melbourne, who are down by 24 points at the break, in what is becoming a concerning trend.
The Storm missed a whopping 23 tackles, made 7 errors and the Rabbitohs cracked their line eight times in the opening 40. The only stat they won was thanks to Bellamy, for most laps of the coach’s box, with three shown on the Kayo broadcast in the first half alone.
The 66-year-old was as angry as ever as he lost it at his troops in the sheds at half-time.
He was so angry that after letting his disgust be known he stormed out, , leaving his players to sit in silence and contemplate how they will turn things around.
“Unbelievable. I’m not sure Craig Bellamy has any answers,” Kevin Walters said in Kayo commentary as vision of his half-time explosion was played on the broadcast.
You can watch Craig Bellamy walk out on his side in the player above.
After back-to-back grand final losses Melbourne were a locked in top 4 proposition heading into 2026 for almost everyone in the footy world, but now they face the unthinkable, not playing finals footy.
After Saturday night’s loss they sit second-last on the ladder with just two wins, and they haven’t looked like turning it around so far.
Bellamy looked lost for answers in the coach’s box for the first time in his career and Lara Pitt reported he was as angry as he has ever been at half-time, and implored his side to show something in the second half.
“He just lamented the side’s poor completion rate and failing to win any contact in that first half and challenged them to show something about what this jersey means,” Pitt said on Kayo’s broadcast.
Come full-time the scoreline was even worse and Bellamy was seen sitting in the coach’s box staring blankly out at the field for several minutes.
“You can understand why Craig Bellamy on the end of six straight losses is up in the coach’s box staring into oblivion because what will they do from here,” Pitt said after full-time.
While fans were stunned by how out of sorts Melbourne looked.
“What even is this Storm side?” one wrote on X.
“What the hell is happening to the Melbourne Storm? Penalties, lost balls, points conceded, and it’s week in, week out kind of stuff. I can’t believe this is real,” another commented.
“Wow, Melbourne Storm looks like they might not play finals at all, on the verge of losing six matches in a row,” a third added.
If Melbourne’s situation isn’t dire enough, star halfback Jahrome Hughes appears to have suffered a serious wrist injury.
He was taken from the field with 15 minutes to play, after struggling for several minutes.
