A hectic travel schedule has made it "impossible" for the Storm to fully prepare for their Round 2 game against Manly, coach Craig Bellamy says.
The Storm will have four days to recover from Monday night's win over the Dragons before they step onto Brookvale Oval on Saturday night.
The team did not arrive back in Melbourne until Tuesday and had two short sessions on the training track before a flight back up north on Friday.
The hectic start to the season has not sat well with their veteran coach.
"It is impossible to have the preparation that you should have for an NRL game," Bellamy said.
"If one of these games had have been a home game it would have been a whole heap easier but of course they are two away games, five day turnaround, it seems like we've spent the whole week at the airport.
"I don't know why these days that happens to teams but it happens, we'll suck it up and see what happens on Saturday night."
Four-day breaks were not kind to Melbourne last season.
They were forced to back up off the same time in Rounds 4, 22 and 25, losing all three games and conceding an average of 32 points in each of them.
"We have had two training sessions this week of 20 minutes, that's not ideal (preparation) for an NRL game."
The Storm will continue their rivalry against Manly on Saturday, looking to make it three wins in a row over their archrivals.
Either Kenny Bromwich or new recruit Tom Learoyd-Lahrs are expected to replace suspended rookie Felise Kaufusi on the bench in what is expected to be the only charge from the Storm team that defeated the Dragons.
Nine of the last 10 finals series have included both Melbourne and Manly with the two teams playing out epic thrillers in recent times.
Despite experiencing a contrast in fortunes to starts of their seasons, sparks are set to fly when the two rivals renew acquaintances.
Kick-off between between the Sea Eagles and Storm is at 7pm at Brookvale Oval.
