Bellamy appeals for patience

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has asked fans to be patient with his new-look squad as the club look to erase their nightmare season in 2010.

The Storm have welcomed 13 new players to their squad during the off-season and have lost influential figures in Brett Finch, Greg Inglis and Ryan Hoffman.

Bellamy will be hoping for a clean slate after the club were stripped of both the 2007 and 2009 premierships and banned from accruing any points in 2010, due to the now imfamous salary-cap scandal.

But with such a large number of new players, Bellamy has urged fans not to expect too much too soon.

“It’s certainly refreshing working with new players, but it takes time and a lot of repetition under pressure and fatigue to get things right,” said Bellamy.

“Some guys pick it up really well, but others take a little longer.

“Now that we’re back training again after Christmas we’re getting close to playing, and having our rep players back certainly accelerates the learning for the other players.

“I think we’re starting to come together pretty well.”

Bellamy has spent hours with his new-look squad, attempting to introduce players to Melbourne’s style of training.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re patient with the new guys at the club and make sure we’re helping them understand the way we play and the systems and procedures we’ve got in place,” said Bellamy.

“We’re doing a lot of educating at the moment with these new players and certainly our senior players are helping with that.

“Hopefully it will be a good year for us and we can play up to the standard that we’re capable of.”

Recruits include Jaiman Lowe and Beau Champion from South Sydney and former Newcastle player Adam Woolnough, who has come out of retirement to join the Storm.