It was the win the Storm needed as they set themselves for a tough end to the home-and-away season.
Melbourne snapped a two game losing streak on Saturday night, defeating Canberra 28-14 at AAMI Park.
The win was the Victorian side’s first over the Raiders at home since Round 21, 2010 and lifted them back into seventh spot on the NRL ladder.
It is a tough run home for the Storm with five of their last seven games on the road.
The path to the finals may be a difficult one but the performance on Saturday night has given coach Craig Bellamy confidence heading into the business end of the year.
“I was pretty happy with the performance… Overall I thought there were some really good signs there for us, a little bit like last week, there was some good signs there,” said Bellamy.
“Again we created plenty of chances, a couple of times we couldn’t quite get over the line or the last pass went astray.
“There are some really good signs there but we just need to keep our nose to the grindstone. Making sure we are training well and preparing well and hopefully we can keep improving.”
That improvement will certainly be needed given Melbourne play just two of their finals seven regular season games at home, including tough trips to face the Roosters and Penrith.
“I know it is quite congested in the middle part of the table, wins around the next sort of month are really important,” said Storm skipper Cameron Smith.
“The most important thing for us is that we look to improve each week now for the next six weeks. We know that there is a lot more improvement in this team.
“We have got a very good football side but we haven’t played to our capabilities I believe this year, that is a positive for us.
The Storm will take on the Broncos up north next Friday night, a team they enjoy a six game winning streak over.
