Former NRL stars Ryan Hoffman and Chad Townsend have weighed in on the Melbourne Storm's lacklustre start to the season.
It has resulted in them slipping to 16th on the ladder after the quarter mark of the season, recording two wins and six losses.
Their most recent loss has come in the shape of a 48-6 shellacking on home soil last weekend on Anzac Day.
Speaking on Zero Tackle's The Boardroom NRL Podcast, Hoffman pinpointed one moment during the match where he identified that the team had lost the confidence to stay in the fight.
He reflected on his own experience when the Storm were permanently fixed at the bottom of the ladder during a salary cap scandal in 2010, revealing that he hasn't seen the current side ever look so unstable.
"The elephant in the room is the Melbourne Storm, sitting 16th. I was a part of the Melbourne Storm when we sat sixteenth, but that's because we couldn't play for points," Hoffman said.
"But I've never seen a Melbourne Storm team this low. Craig Bellamy has never had a Storm team this low."
Hoffman, who has played 259 NRL games for the Storm, making him the fifth most capped club player ever, conceded that despite his former team starting last weekend's contest well, one moment early in the game unravelled the side.
"I've never seen a Melbourne Storm team lack so much confidence, and the telling point for me was that I thought they started the game on the weekend against South Sydney really strongly," Hoffman added.
"They broke down Souths, first attacking opportunity, they spread the ball wide, Nick Meaney drops the ball, which would have been an open try, which happens in rugby league and Nick Meaney's one of the most reliable players in rugby league.
"From that error, I just saw 13 players on the field, I just saw their heads drop, and their confidence went straight out the window. They wanted to start fast, and they wanted to start hard, and the first time they made an error down in the red zone, I just saw their heads drop, and it really is a crisis of confidence for the Storm at the moment."
Former NRL premiership-winner and podcast co-host Townsend has seen enough of the Melbourne Storm this year to claim they will finish outside of the Top 8 in season 2026.
"I've been an admirer of the Melbourne Storm from the outside for a long time, but Hoffy, Melbourne Storm will not play finals football this season," Townsend stated.
"The way they are playing at the moment, they will not be there. It comes down to guys not getting their jobs done.
Defensively, they have not defended to the standard that this team has set for such a long time. They are not valuing the hard parts of the game."
Townsend honed in on one area of their game that has gotten away from them: the edge defensive structures, with efforts to suggest it has dropped off since last year.
It saw Rabbitohs second rower Tallis Duncan score a hat-trick, record three line breaks and run for 164 metres.
"Cameron Munster, 33 tackles he was forced to make on the weekend, five missed tackles. He had dramas on his inside shoulder, his outside shoulder. Tallis Duncan had a field day out on that right edge for South Sydney," Townsend added.
"At times when you're lacking in a bit of confidence, you need your leaders to step up, and I don't think he's playing to a standard that Craig Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm have held on.
"It's not just him, right, it's everyone. We know the changes that have come across the Melbourne Storm, but at the moment, we heard from Craig Bellamy in the press conference, right? 'The most embarrassed he's ever been in his football life.
"That is such a significant statement for Craig Bellamy, the super coach, arguably the greatest coach of all time, to be saying that and to be not sure what is going on at the Melbourne Storm."
It is unfamiliar waters for a lot of the Storm troops, who have traditionally always travelled at the spearhead of the season.
"These players would have never been in this situation," Townsend continued.
"Never lost six in a row, sitting sixteenth after a quarter of the season? It is crazy scenes down there in Melbourne."
Despite the current uphill battle the Storm face, Hoffman differs from Townsend's opinion and believes they can still turn it around to make a push for September.
"I still believe they can play finals," Hoffman admitted.
"You're right, they need to write things very, very quickly. They need a win, and they need a good performance to get their confidence up."
The Storm has a great opportunity to get their season back on track when they travel to Brisbane to face the Dolphins on Friday night.
