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Melissa Woods

Storm go back to basics to stop NRL slump

Craig Bellamy says Melbourne are heading back to basics in a bid to stop their four-game NRL slump. (Scott Barbour/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Craig Bellamy isn't resorting to any fast fixes to arrest Melbourne's alarming form slump that has seen the Storm lose their last four NRL games.

Once a top-two lock, injury-hit Melbourne have dropped to fifth and are in danger of surrendering hopes of a top-four finish and a finals second chance.

Ahead of their clash with the Warriors in Auckland on Friday night, the Storm coach says he's going back to basics rather than search for anything new.

Bellamy says he wants to see more consistent effort from his players if they're to avoid equalling their worst run of consecutive losses since 2012.

They were able to overcome five-straight losses late in that season to win the premiership but they had the likes of superstars Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk steering the ship.

"We're looking at the things that are important to our game and most of those things are around consistent effort," Bellamy said on Thursday in Auckland.

"That's probably what we haven't been so good at in the last couple of weeks.

"We don't want to panic because that won't get us anywhere.

"For us it's not about winning or losing at the moment it's about finding a bit of form and being more consistent with doing the things that we know are important to us to perform.

"We've gone back to really nailing those things down at training, and then hopefully, we'll improve in the games."

In rugby union heartland, Bellamy was asked about the All Blacks, who this month suffered a historic series defeat against Ireland piling the pressure on coach Ian Foster.

The master coach shared similar advice for Foster.

"He should just stick to what he believes in, what he knows works for the All Blacks," Bellamy said.

"There's no miracle cure, as we know over the last month, so make sure you stick to what your values and beliefs are and don't drift off into something that's not that important or isn't going to help."

Meanwhile, with the 13th-placed Warriors playing just their second home game since 2019 after being forced to relocate to Australia due to COVID travel restrictions, Bellamy said they deserved some kind of compensation from the NRL.

He was also open to shifting their annual Anzac Day fixture from Melbourne to Mount Smart.

"I don't know what - but we could give them four, five or six competition points to start with as they probably deserve it," Bellamy said.

"What they've done for the game has been unbelievable ... they've made a lot of sacrifices, a lot more than any other team in the competition.

"We all should tip our hats to the Warriors, congratulate them, and be really grateful for what they've done for our game."

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