Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy makes no apologies for his team's brutal pre-season, saying it means they are mentally and physically strong going into the NRL season.
The Storm are renowned for their pre-season camps during which players are deprived of sleep and put through a number of gruelling challenges designed to test their mental toughness.
Ahead of their round one clash with the Bulldogs on Friday night, Bellamy said it was the foundation for a winning team.
"You build your foundation on having physically and mentally tough players and if you've got that you're going to be a competitive team," Bellamy said.
"Our pre-season is pretty torrid and I think that gives us an advantage.
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"Our mentality is that you get through our pre-season, it doesn't matter what they throw at you through the season, on or off the field, you're going to be able to handle it.
"We make our pre-season difficult and challenging enough so that by the time we get to round one, we know that we're going to be hard to beat if we play to our potential."
Storm veteran Cooper Cronk said a two-week camp in Geelong in January also honed their fitness and basic skills.
"It's like cramming for an exam," Cronk said.
"You try to get an extra session each day over a two-week period and you're doing a lot of repetition so the work and the time and kilometres you put into your legs and the skill acquisition part of your game hopefully pays off."
Coming within seconds of snatching the NRL premiership from Cronulla in the grand final, Bellamy said he wasn't planning any wholesale changes to the Storm.
"There will be a a few subtle tactical and technical things but not much has changed," Bellamy said.
