Storm aim to cap big week with Cowboys win

If good luck comes in threes then the Melbourne Storm are due a win against North Queensland in their NRL clash on Saturday night.

The Storm are celebrating the re-signing of Kiwi Test forward Kevin Proctor and breaking their membership record for the fifth consecutive season with 15,245 members on board.

A win against North Queensland in Townsville would cap a big week for the club.

Both teams will have key players backing up from Origin, with Storm coach Craig Bellamy now knowing to expect the unexpected.

The coach said he used to be a bundle of nerves come Origin time but now accepted injuries to his players were out of his control.

“We’re not sure who’s going to be in the team,” he said.

“We’ve named a side that if all those (Origin) guys are out this is going to be who’s playing for us.”

He will finalise his team after a light training session with the Origin contingent in Townsville on Friday.

Bellamy said the side had drawn confidence from their 27-14 win over South Sydney in their last outing.

He was impressed by their consistency and defence, which had surprisingly fallen away in recent rounds.

“I don’t think the win was that important but the performance was very encouraging,” he said.

“It was our best performance of the year without a doubt.

“We were a lot more consistent with our good actions throughout the game.

“Some of the things we planned to do defensively we did really well for 80 minutes and that’s our ideal scenario.”

Proctor, 25, turned down a massive offer from Canberra to extend his deal with Melbourne until the end of 2018.

Bellamy said it would have been tough to lose Proctor after signing him out of school, given he has already played 114 NRL games for the Storm.

“We’re really happy that he’s staying because he’s just coming into his best years of footy so hopefully we’ll get the best of that.”

Rookie back Young Tonumaipea will also remain in his hometown for a further two seasons.

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