Melbourne Storm to miss NRL finals for fourth time in club history after Bulldogs loss

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has conceded his side will not be playing finals in 2026, with the club set to miss out for just the fourth time in its history.

The Storm entered the round 22 clash needing to win all five of their remaining games to finish the season on 32 points, which has been needed to make two of the past three finals series.

Missing captain Harry Grant, five-eighth Cameron Munster, and halfback Jahrome Hughes ruled out 90 minutes before kick-off, the Storm threatened a famous upset win when they led 22-16 early in the second half.

But the Bulldogs rallied with the final four tries of the match to record a sixth win in their last seven matches, and leapfrog North Queensland into the NRL top-eight.

The loss ends Melbourne's realistic chance of making the top eight, but Bellamy said he will not be accepting a drop in standards during the final month of the home and away season.

"If anyone wants to go through the motions, if I see that at training and feel that at training, they won't be playing first grade," he said on Friday.

"At the end of the day, every game is important. It's not quite as important as it has been the last few years because we're not going to the finals now.

"But we're out there to play for each other and play for our fans."

The Storm have only missed finals three times since their inaugural season in 1998. The Victorian club missed finals in 2001 and 2002, the two seasons prior to Craig Bellamy becoming head coach.

The only time the Storm have not made finals under Bellamy was in 2010, when the club was not allowed to earn premiership points as punishment for salary cap breaches which led to the stripping of the 2007 and 2009 premierships.

The Storm, who have lost the previous two grand finals, have been one of the league's most injury-affected teams in 2026.

Several players have made their NRL debuts this year for the Storm, including playmakers Hayden Watson and Jai Bowden on Friday night.

Bellamy, who is contracted until the end of the 2028 season, said the tough results the club is going through now will hopefully be worth it in coming seasons.

"We haven't got a lot of that experience playing at the moment, with these guys making their debuts or it's their third or fourth game," Bellamy said.

"But next year and the year after, that experience will be really handy for us.

"It's just hard to see past the results at the moment of our games."

Earlier, the Dolphins consolidated fifth place on the NRL ladder with a nervous 28-22 win over the last-placed St George Illawarra Dragons.