A loss to the Wests Tigers on Friday night - the Storm's second this season against a team occupying last place on the ladder - has once again seen Melbourne slip from the top four race.
After being leapfrogged by the Sharks, the Storm now sit in sixth spot, two games adrift of the fourth-placed Rabbitohs.
This current predicament has left their captain far from pleased.
"I'm pretty annoyed, I think everyone is. I think given the opportunity that we put in front of us... coming up against a team that was running last on the table, no disrespect to the Wests Tigers, but if we play to our capabilities we should have taken the two points," Cameron Smith said.
"Maybe a few guys got a little bit comfortable and they managed to score some easy points on us. I think Craig [Bellamy] summed it up pretty well after the match, it was a pretty soft effort by the team.
"It is all of our own doing, that is the disappointing part."
Slipping up against lowly opposition has been a point of concern for the Storm this season.
Five of their nine losses have come against sides currently in the bottom half of the ladder.
On the flip side Melbourne has already beaten the higher ranked Sharks, Roosters and Rabbitohs while narrowly losing to the Cowboys and Broncos.
Smith spoke to his team twice before the Wests Tigers game about the importance of bringing the right attitude, admitting that he had been aware of his side's tendency to drop off against lowly opposition.
"It has been a bit of a struggle for us which is strange. When we play a team that is not doing so well, we struggle. It is puzzling at the very least," Smith said.
"For me that is a sign of complacency at times. We are not playing 80-minute football, which you need to do at this level and it doesn't matter who you are playing against."
Luckily for Smith and company they will not have to wait long to redeem themselves.
They will now face a somewhat similar challenge against the 14th placed Titans on Sunday at AAMI Park.
A Greg Bird field goal as time expired saw Gold Coast leave Melbourne victorious from their last visit more than 12 months ago.
With Melbourne's top eight spot in serious jeopardy at the weekend the Storm can ill-afford to drop yet another game in which they will enter as heavy favourites.
