Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy spoke candidly to the media on Thursday about the club's injury crisis, revealing the strain that it's caused ahead of their Anzac Day clash with South Sydney.
"It’s been pretty testing," he said.
"We’re just struggling to put 17 out there at the moment."
The Storm have long prided themselves on their next-man-up mentality. With several key players on the sideline, that ethos will be tested.
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"We’ve always had that mentality that when someone misses out injured, someone else gets a chance," he said.
"We need to just make sure that we get the best out of what we’ve got."
After the recent retirement of club stalwart Christian Welch due to medical concerns, the powerbrokers in Melbourne have been looking to spend that available money to fill the void ever since.
"We’ve already been looking at that since Christian retired," said Bellamy.
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Among the injuries affecting the squad is that of Will Warbrick, who suffered a concussion in the All Stars game.
Despite having played since, the high-flying outside back has experienced delayed symptoms which have troubled his veteran coach.
"To be quite honest I don't really understand it," said Bellamy.
"It hasn’t been great for us or for Will obviously."
As the Storm navigate this difficult stretch, Bellamy emphasised the importance of putting those distractions aside so that they are best equipped to honour the Anzac tradition in round eight.
"This is a way to show respect on Anzac day with how we perform on the field. Our teams have done a good job of that over the amount of time we’ve been playing Anzac day so this week isn’t any different," he said.
Even in the face of significant injury, Melbourne still boast one of the most complete teams in the NRL.