Melbourne Storm personnel vow to translate their devastation into defiance when the shamed National Rugby League (NRL) side return to action against the New Zealand Warriors tomorrow.
Stripped of two premiership titles and condemned to inherit the 2010 wooden spoon after a systematic $A1.7 million ($NZ2.2 million) rort of the NRL's salary cap over five years, the Storm's head coach Craig Bellamy said the road to redemption started against the Warriors in Melbourne tomorrow night.
The shell-shocked squad returned to training today after what Bellamy described as "the worst week of our sporting lives".
Although the Storm are no longer playing for competition points -- one of a range of penalties imposed by the NRL on Thursday -- Bellamy said his team would continue to play as if their premiership defence was still viable.
"The senior players and coaching staff got together yesterday to talk about this shocking situation," Bellamy wrote in a column published in today's Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"We vented. There was anger, frustration, disbelief. We let it all out. And we did it together.
"When we finished venting, we stopped and asked ourselves: Where to from here?
"To a man, every player vowed to give their all for the purple of the Storm, for the jersey, for the football club, for each other and for our loyal supporters."
Storm captain Cameron Smith, one of the marquee players at the centre of the salary cap scandal, agreed with Bellamy, to a point.
"All we can do now is turn up tomorrow, then after that sit down together and talk about what we do for the rest of the season," Smith said.
"People can say play for your pride and all that but it's round seven, we have to turn up for another 20 weeks and give everything we can really for nothing."
However, Smith did emphasise the players were desperate to stay together and rebuild the Storm's shattered image.
Although Storm chairman Dr Rob Moodie conceded the playing list would take "huge hits" to operate under the $A4.1m cap in 2011, Smith said they would try to make it happen without losing anyone.
"We are a team, not a group of individuals that turn up on a weekend and play football.
"I believe everyone will be willing to sacrifice a bit of money to stay together, and not let this be the end of what we've worked so hard for.
"We're not going to let this cripple us. We're in the race again (next year) and that's what we need to look forward to."
Smith also defended his team's achievements, despite the fact they are destined to be remembered as cheats.
"People have labelled us cheats and frauds but we won those premierships through hard work and playing for each other and that's what we'll continue to do."
