Premiership winner great Billy Slater confesses his doubts about the Melbourne Storm finishing their season on a high note to reach the top eight.
From injuries to their losing streak earlier in the season and more injuries to two major pieces in their spine, Harry Grant and Cameron Munster, the Storm could be missing the eight for the first time since 2010, when they were forced to be the wooden spoon side due to their salary cap scandal after the 2007 and 2009 premierships.
The 2026 season saw significant changes to their side after losing back-to-back grand finals against the Penrith Panthers in 2024 and the Brisbane Broncos in 2025.
Three wins away from the top eight with six games remaining, they remain a small chance of potentially playing an elimination final in week one of the finals in September.
Billy Slater believes it might be time to put a line through the team he spent his entire career playing for.
“Melbourne still have a mathematical chance, and it's still in their hands if they win every game from here and they still have a bye up their sleeve,” he said on Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast following the side's round 21 defeat to South Sydney.
“But if you look at the health of the footy team, both of their wingers in [Will] Warbrick and Coates are out, you've had the cruel blow with Eli Katoa and [Shawn] Blore has been injured throughout most of the season.
“You've got Jahrome Hughes carrying a hamstring injury and doesn't look 100 per cent, Harry Grant went down with a hamstring injury on the weekend, and he's gonna miss some weeks, and Cameron Munster is still a few weeks away.
“It just looks like a really big task for them to win every game.
“I would never write the Storm off, but they're going through a few challenges at the moment - not just their ladder position.”
When comparing the Storm to the teams above them on the ladder, there is little going right for Melbourne at a time when teams want to be playing at a high level.
The Penrith Panthers are still on top of the table despite only winning two of their last five games, the Sydney Roosters are continuing to win games, Cronulla Sharks are playing like one of the best sides in the competition with Nicho Hynes playing some of the best football of his career since he first joined the Sharks, and the New Zealand Warriors, Dolphins, Newcastle Knights and the North Queensland Cowboys remain in more optimistic seats when it comes to their form and their chances at staying in the eight.
Melbourne is 12th on the ladder after a 28-26 loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs in Round 21, and their schedule for the rest of the season is not easy in the slightest.
They play the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on Friday night, which has won six of their last eight games, and the Manly Sea Eagles, which has declined in form recently but remain within grasp of the finals and have been net positive since Kieran Foran became their coach.
In Round 24, the Storm have their last bye of the season before facing the Panthers at their last home game before travelling to play the Brisbane Broncos and the Cronulla Sharks.
