Storm surged into premiership contention following a dominant Round 1 victory over Parramatta, extending the legendary coach's record of winning all Opening Nights across 22 seasons. However, they had a Week 2 bye, a situation Bellamy admitted was "far from perfect."
However, they might have the chance to bring back monster prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona for their match against the Panthers. Despite this possibility, Bellamy remained non-committal about whether he would include the Kiwi player, who sat out last year’s final due to suspension, considering how little game time he had before the start of the season.
After being included as one of the reserves in Bellamy’s 22-player roster, Asofa-Solomona was allowed to participate following clearance from any potential suspension due to an alleged hip-drop tackle during his comeback match in the Queensland Cup.
"He’s ready to go. He hasn’t had many opportunities to play football this season due to the suspension, but we’ll keep an eye on how things unfold today," Bellamy commented during his team’s last practice session of the week on Wednesday.
I typically don't enter training sessions with an abundance of plans because unexpected things often occur.
We'll observe his progress through that, watch how the rest of the team manages as well, and then make our choice accordingly.
Bellamy acknowledged that a concerning head injury was the reason for the absenteeism of key player Will Warbrick, who plays as a winger.
"He has a slight concussion, which made him feel quite off; that's the primary concern," he stated.
I'm not entirely certain whether he would have passed the HIA test, but as it turned out, he wasn't feeling well at the end of the day, so we decided to leave him out.
The sole factor stopping Storm from fielding their best team for the match is the lack of Warbrick, with Grant Anderson set to take his place instead.
Meanwhile, Penrith has seen five players depart from their original grand final lineup, notably losing key player Jarome Luai. Now, 21-year-old Jack Cole will join forces with superstar Nathan Cleary in the halves.
So far, their nascent partnership has yielded varied outcomes, starting with a victory in the first round against Cronulla in Las Vegas, followed by an unexpected defeat to the Roosters after the team had heavily lost to the Broncos the previous week.
In Round 1, Melbourne trounced the Eels with an impressive score of 56 points. They have also emerged victorious in eight out of their last nine matches against the Panthers at AAMI Park.
However, after enduring the agony of last year’s 14-6 grand final loss, which marked Penrith’s fifth consecutive grand final appearance, Bellamy understands that Ivan Cleary’s team shouldn’t be dismissed.
"I reckon you might be taken aback by the outcome once you check out what went down in round 1," Bellamy commented regarding the Panthers' defeat from the previous week.
But of course, everyone understands in sports…upsets occur.
It was clearly not optimal for Penrith, but they have made it to the last five grand finals and they know what it takes to secure victory.
We expect them to arrive here tomorrow evening acting in that manner.
Even when they perform poorly – you have to acknowledge the Roosters... however, the Panthers know how to secure victories, and they might be even more determined following last week’s outcome.
They understand their strengths and focus on those areas, which means we can expect them to approach things this way tomorrow evening, particularly following last week’s performance.