Fighting not folding: Gutsy win signals new dawn at Storm

Storm coach Craig Bellamy believes the courageous golden point win over the Eels on Thursday night represents a turning point for his team after they fell into the habit of 'folding not fighting' last year.

With superstar Cameron Munster returning to the field in the second half despite suffering a compound finger dislocation and winger Xavier Coates battling a shoulder injury, the Storm came back from 12-6 down with 18 minutes to play to snatch a memorable victory.

The win stretched Bellamy's incredible run of opening round victories to 20 and also heralded a new era as the likes of Bronson Garlick, Tyran Wishart, Alec MacDonald and Will Warbrick stepped up when the chips were down.

"We had a lot of injuries tonight so I thought it was a real gutsy effort from our blokes," Bellamy said post-match.

"Being so gutsy through the whole 80 minutes, I don't think we've been like that as a team the last 12 months so we made some steps forward in that area and hopefully we can keep it up.

"It probably took me a little while to realise it to be honest, you bob along just sticking to your systems and sticking to your routine and then all of a sudden you think 'we haven't played with that sort of steel for a bit and when we get under pressure we are folding more than fighting', but that's something we want to be better at this year.

"We've got a lot of new guys and especially now with the injuries we've got we'll have to find some more, but if we keep showing the fight we showed tonight, we'll be OK."

No one typified that fight better than Munster, who looked to be gone for the night when he was assisted off after 30 minutes.

Bellamy said he had been unsure of the extent of the injury when he headed to the sheds at half-time but after a painkilling injection and a quick fitness test on his hand, Munster returned to inspire his young team-mates to victory. 

"When Cam went off, I thought 'geez, there could be a bit of trouble here' but then he came out after half-time very vocal, it's probably the loudest I've seen him and he just took the reins," skipper Christian Welch told media after the match.

"I think great players like that give confidence to the group that if they just do their role then someone like Munster will create something." 

And create something he did, taking off on a cross field run in the 63rd minute and bamboozling defenders with a pass to himself before putting Young Tonumaipea over in the corner.

Fullback Nick Meaney's conversion made it 12-12 and a frantic final 15 minutes ensued before Harry Grant stepped up in golden point to hand his coach yet another opening round moment to savour.

Adding more merit to the win was the fact it came in enemy territory and in the face of an injury toll that included Munster, Coates and Tonumaipea, who left the field for a HIA after a head clash late in the game.

"I think Cam broke a bone and it has come out of the skin so he'll need an operation," Bellamy said.

"He was pretty brave, he got an injection, they taped it up and he finished the game for us... he showed a lot of ticker to go back out there.

"And Xavier has a shoulder injury, I thought it was his AC joint but they tell me it's his SC which is a new injury to me.

"Even Xavier, he played on for five minutes or so and that was a really gutsy performance by him as well. He'll probably miss a couple of weeks."