Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy believes his NRL table-topping team should be praised for their hard work rather than constantly criticised for their tactics.

The Storm have been in the firing line from rivals for their wrestling moves.

But Bellamy said in his 18 years at the club he’s never been involved with a squad of players who have worked so hard and they deserve their success.

“The thing that irks me and disappoints me is that it’s like all we do at training is plan to take short-cuts or plan to exploit rules when this group is probably the hardest working group I’ve ever worked with here at the Storm.

“And that’s why we are where we are on the ladder – it’s because of the work ethic of the group and individuals – and the players don’t get enough credit for that.”

He said rather than focus on how they can bend the rules, his players had worked on their weakness such as their attack which was spluttering early in the season but now lead the competition in points scored.

“We thought we were a little bit short in a couple of areas in that last year and early this year we were clunky there at stages but that’s an area that they’ve worked really hard on,” Bellamy said.

Hosting Canberra at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon, Melbourne, who are six points clear, can wrap up the minor premiership with a win.