Melbourne NRL skipper Cameron Smith says the clock is ticking on the Storm as they look to rediscover their best form before they lose their stars to State of Origin duty.
The Storm suffered a shock defeat against Cronulla last round but their form was below par even before that.
Ahead of their Magic Round clash with Parramatta in Brisbane on Saturday night, Smith said they needed to get back on track before they were weakened through the Origin period, with the first game in Brisbane on June 5.
From the starting side they are set to lose five-eighth Cameron Munster, winger Josh Addo-Carr, second-rower Felise Kaufusi, centre Will Chambers, prop Christian Welch and possibly lock Dale Finucane.
Fortunately for Melbourne, Smith has put a line through helping out the decimated Maroons with a return to representative football.
Donning teal undies over his footy shorts to launch World Ovarian Cancer Day, Smith said while only posting two losses from eight games didn't look bad, last week's performance was a line in the sand for the Storm.
"It's a pretty good position but if we're honest with ourselves the last six weeks, we haven't been at our best, that's for sure," Smith said.
"For the coaches and some of senior players last week's performance was almost a final straw for us.
"Things need to start improving because we're coming into a pretty important part of the season when Origin starts as we're going to lose a few guys to that and we need to start banking some wins over the next month to ensure that come the end of the year we will be fighting for a finals spot."
Smith joked he might lighten the mood at the Storm by hiding some teal undies in Bellamy's drawer.
"I might stir him up a little bit - he might get a laugh out of it," the captain said.
"He's still quite fired up about the result at the weekend but I think he'd find the funny side of it."
Meanwhile, the Storm say they won't be affected by plans by a major partner, Purplebricks, to close their Australian business.
Purplebricks signed as a major partner with the club in 2019 under a one-year arrangement and the club say the exit will have no impact on their existing financial commitment.
