A happy mind means a happy footballer, a philosophy Craig Bellamy hopes will hold his team in good stead for the back end of the year.
All eight Storm players who were selected in Origin squads returned to the Club on Wednesday.
The were given the week off following the Game III decider and after the grueling Origin series, the time away appears to have done them the world of good.
“They’ve come back really fresh,” Bellamy said.
“This is their first day back so they’ve had a good break and so have the other players with the bye.
“Certainly freshness-wise we are feeling really good. Hopefully we can get a good training session today and get ready for Saturday night.
Rivalry continues! Melbourne v Manly, July 30. Book now!
Sometimes when you have a bit of a break it takes a bit of time to get back into it but I’d like to think the guys have benefitted. We will see on Saturday night but judging by the way they trained yesterday and their spirits we are better for it.”
Storm take on a Raiders team this week who are fighting to keep their 2017 season alive.
Canberra are currently two wins outside the top eight, with cruel luck seeing them lose six games this season by six points or less.
“To be honest they’ve lost a lot of close games,” Bellamy said.
“They’ve been to golden point three times and had lost them all before last week so they have been right in it.”
“They are a big, strong physical side so they are going to be very hard to beat up there on Saturday night.”