Melbourne Storm have a three-game lead at the top of the NRL ladder but it means little to coach Craig Bellamy considering the challenges to come.
The Storm beat Sydney Roosters 14-12 at Adelaide Oval on Friday night on the back of a penalty goal from Cameron Smith 15 minutes from full time.
But the team faces a difficult two weeks ahead as they will likely lose six of their best players to State of Origin camps ahead of game three on July 10.
The Storm have a short turnaround this week as they play St George-Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium on Thursday night then host Cronulla Sharks at AAMI Park on July 13.
Advertisement
Their origin stars will miss the Dragons game and will be questionable for the Sharks game – adding to that fullback Jahrome Hughes (back) and Marion Seve (shoulder) both were withdrawn from the Roosters game but both should push for recalls this week.
No NRL side had held a three-game lead this late in the season since the Storm in 2012 but Bellamy knows they have 10 games to go and more challenges to come.
"It's a nice spot to be in but if we start worrying about the table, the table won't do us any favours – we have to worry about our performance and our preparation," Bellamy said.
"If you are performing at a high level then usually the table takes care of itself so we won't take too much notice of the table."
Cameron Munster, Will Chambers, Felise Kaufusi, Christian Welch are all expected to remain in the Queensland squad same with Josh Addo-Carr and Dale Finucane for New South Wales when both states name their sides on Sunday.
Storm prop Jesse Bromwich was cited by the match review committee for a dangerous contact tackle in the first half of the Roosters game but he can avoid a suspension by taking an early plea and picking up 75 penalty points.
The Storm took 22 players to Adelaide to prepare some of their origin replacements for next week, new signing Solomone Kata could push to come straight in as well if Seve remains out.
The Storm have only used 23 players this season and competition is high for places as shown by back-up fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen and replacement centre Justin Olam who both impressed on Friday after being called into the starting side to replace Hughes and Seve.
Papenhuyzen has been coming off the bench as an impact player and making an impact, with a full 80 minutes on Friday he ran for 251 metres and scored a try.
"Paps as was tremendous tonight, he doesn't have Josh Addo-Carr pace but he's goRead More – Source
[contf] [contfnew] 
Australian Breaking News Headlines
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
