Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is warning his players they will be in enemy territory as they finalise preparations for Sunday's NRL grand final against Cronulla.
Following an open training session in front of Melbourne fans the Storm flew to Sydney where Bellamy is expecting the attention, and hostility, to ramp right up.
Overseeing his sixth grand final in his 14 Storm seasons, Bellamy described criticism this week of his captain Cameron Smith for alleged dirty play during their preliminary final win over Canberra as "predictable" and expected more to come.
"It doesn't matter who you play up there, if it's a Sydney team you're going to cop it," Bellamy said on Wednesday.
The veteran coach was unhappy about the promotional demands on his team leading up to the title decider, including an appearance at the Sydney Opera House, and said he'd prefer if they could just concentrate on the game.
But Bellamy said he had spoken to his young players following their win over the Raiders and told them to embrace the week, which would be the biggest of their careers, and also try to keep to their regular routines.
He hoped they would listen to their leaders, skipper Cameron Smith, who has played in five grand finals and Test halfback Cooper Cronk, who will run out for his sixth.
"We've got two of the most experienced guys in the competition at big games, and another three or four who have played in grand finals as well and hopefully it will rub off on them," Bellamy said.
The Storm beat the Sharks 26-6 in the final round battle to claim the NRL minor premiership but Bellamy believed the scoreline flattered his team and says the ANZ Stadium decider would be much tighter.
"I said after the game that the Sharks had won 15 in a row during the season and you're a real quality team to do that in this competition," Bellamy said.
"We also had a bit of an advantage playing at home.
"I think the score flattered us a little bit and it was a lot closer than that."
He did however rate that performance, and their qualifying win over North Queensland, as two of their best games of the year and felt they were heading into the grand final with momentum.
With his team able to hold their season together despite being decimated by injury early on, Bellamy said they deserved to be playing in the grand final.
"I can't remember a year when we've had as many injuries and the guys have been tremendous and have really risen to the occasion.
"I'm really proud and happy for them because I genuinely believe they deserve the opportunity they've given themselves on Sunday night."
