Melbourne Storm counting on Sea Eagle challenge to fire them up Gareth Widdop training with the Storm at Goschs Paddock on Friday. SOME like to listen to loud music and run around the change room like mad men. Others, such as Melbourne Storm playmakers Gareth Widdop and Cooper Cronk, stay cool and calm, saving their energy for battle. The pre-game ritual is an individual thing but whatever has been tried at Storm of late, it's not working. The reigning premier's slow starts have been acknowledged by all at the club. No one can put their finger on the cause of the team's lack of early energy. Too long between games could be one factor, and is backed up by the numbers. In the first six rounds, which Storm played in just 33 days, the opening 30 minutes were all about tries. Melbourne outscored all opponents nine tries to three in the first half-hour - and won each time. In the past three rounds, the scoring trend has reversed. The average break between matches has doubled, to nearly 10 days, and too much time off has left Storm flat -- bringing consecutive losses. Melbourne has scored just three tries in the opening half-hour - it went scoreless in the first half against Penrith last week - and conceded five. "It might slow you down a bit," Widdop said of the long layoffs. When you are in quick transition you are always on the go, always up and when you have long turnarounds things slow down a bit. Maybe that is the case. But we're not into excuses. We know what we have to do when we run out. Puzzled Storm coach Craig Bellamy this week asked his men if they were flat and, if so, why. "We've started really poorly," Widdop said. You have to start with energy and the rest will take care of itself. Bellamy has experimented with different ways to handle the long breaks and come to one conclusion. "It's obviously a mental thing, not a physical thing," he said. It just seems when we have time to switch off it takes time to switch back on. This week he tried to break the weekly monotony with a go-karting session and a talk from AFL legend Tommy Hafey. "We do that a few times, might go to the movies, to break things up, and perhaps this was the right time, with a longer turnaround," he said. Hopefully, it freshens them up a bit. As far as Widdop is concerned, the answer is not in pre-game routines or a force-fed, team-wide ritual. "It goes back to the individual and you have to prepare as well as you can," he said. I don't think we need to change too much, because it has worked for so many years. Maybe they need the challenge of a ferocious opponent, as in Round 6 against the flying Rabbitohs, Storm's last 80-minute effort. Cue Manly, which could cure the slow starts - with Bellamy sure to get his men's hearts beating pre-game. "It's a healthy rivalry, so he has been fired up," Widdop said. He's passionate about what he wants us to do. Which is to start well and just keep going.