In a bid to keep Newcastle star Kalyn Ponga quiet on Saturday, Craig Bellamy has a couple of novel methods up his sleeve.
The first is using a couple of his own speedy young fullbacks as Ponga clones in opposed training sessions.
Bellamy on Friday revealed he had been using out-of-favour fullback Scott Drinkwater and interchange utility Ryan Papenhuyzen in the role of Ponga at training during the week to help his team work out a plan to nullify the Queensland No.1.
His other formula for stopping Ponga is a little less orthodox.
"You watch that guy [Ponga] play and sometimes you wonder how you are going to stop him, so we might send out our halves with a shotgun each," Bellamy joked on Friday.
Only Roosters superstar Latrell Mitchell had scored more points than Ponga in the opening 13 rounds. The Knights fullback leads his team with seven tries from 11 matches this campaign.
When the Storm take on the in-form Knights at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, Bellamy will also be well aware of the threat posed by veteran playmaker Mitchell Pearce.
Storm v Knights - Round 14
"Pearce is probably playing as good a footy as he has ever played and he is a wonderful competitor," Bellamy said.
"They have got some good outside backs that make some good ground. We sort of know what their strengths are, so hopefully we can combat that.
"But we have got a few strengths in our side, so hopefully they will have their hands full handling us."
The Storm are one-game clear at the top of the Telstra Premiership ladder and Bellamy remains confident that his players have turned the corner after a disappointing period earlier in the season where they lost twice in three weeks.
The halfway mark: Tackle of the year
"We don't ever see ourselves as a complacent team. We probably were about five or six games ago, but I think we sorted that," Bellamy said.
Bellamy confirmed the Storm were close to finalising a a mid-season switch to bring Titans prop Max King to the club on a deal until the end of 2020.
"We are interested in Max King. I am not quite sure how far that has gone. There are a few things that need to happen, but we would like to have Max at our club," he said.
"It has got to be the right decision for him and he has got to get permission off the Titans. Hopefully, something might be sorted there soon."
