He saw it coming but nothing could quite prepare livid coach Craig Bellamy for what he described as Melbourne's worst defensive effort in his 14-year tenure.
Bellamy said he would give his "lazy players" one last chance before wielding the axe after their 38-36 NRL loss to Gold Coast Titans on Saturday night.
However, the furious Storm mentor vowed to thrash Melbourne at training after the ladder leaders let slip a 36-28 lead with 10 minutes left.
"I knew something like this was coming. You can't keep playing great all year," Bellamy said after just their second loss in the first 10 rounds.
"(But) we pride ourselves on our defence at this club and I can't think of a poorer defensive effort than what we put up (against Titans) since I have been here.
"It's a real worry for me to be honest.
"To score 36 points and still lose - that just ain't on."
Melbourne's haul is the most by a losing team in NRL history.
"We didn't control the ball. Most of the year we have made up with that in our defence ... (but against Titans) it was non-existent," Bellamy said.
"We had some lazy players out there.
"They better be battening down the hatches because it is going to be a tough week."
Bellamy said he wouldn't make wholesale changes - yet.
"Most of those young guys in our squad have done a good job and built up some brownie points," he said.
"But for a few I threw away brownie points - I am not going to give away too many more chances.
"If next week we defend like that there will be changes, I don't care where they come from."
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