Storm coach Craig Bellamy says stopping Nathan Cleary on Thursday night will take his team’s best weapons firing

Teams have tried to come up with all sorts of plans to limit Nathan Cleary’s impact on a game, but Storm coach Craig Bellamy has come up with a simple solution ahead of Thursday’s top-of-the-table showdown, suggesting his side bring a “shotgun” to slow down the champion halfback.

The three-time premiership-winning playmaker has been in ominous form since he returned from a hamstring injury, with Cleary coming up with clutch play after clutch play to have Penrith just two points behind the Storm.

His only loss this season came back in round 1 against Melbourne when the champions were held scoreless, but they’ve had no problems scoring points in recent weeks with their main man back in the side.

Cleary tormented the Storm in last year’s preliminary final and should get a couple of his key weapons back, with Bellamy expecting Dylan Edwards and James Fisher-Harris to both start in their return from injury.

And while those two will provide the Storm with plenty of headaches, Bellamy’s focus is on stopping Cleary.

“With a shotgun,” he joked when asked how you do it.

“He’s one hell of a player, and he has been for a couple of years and he will be for a long time as well.

“We just need to make sure that we’ve got a bit of urgency with our line speed and make sure our contact is effective, and then we just go from there by trying to put pressure on him.”

The Storm isn’t short on superstars, with the core four of Ryan Papenhuyzen, Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes and Harry Grant still looking to recapture their best after injuries kept the quartet apart for large chunks of the season.

They’ll need to fire against the most clinical team in the competition, with Sydney’s wet weather potentially helping the Storm given the Panthers have struggled in the rain in recent years.

“Our spine probably hasn’t been at its best, but we haven’t had them too many games together, either,” Bellamy said.

“We got them together last week, so hopefully they’ll be able to iron out a couple of kinks from last week.

“They’re our brains and talk in our team. We just want to play to our strengths. We’ve got a plan, we want to stick to it, and we’ll see where that takes us.

“They pretty much have been (the best team) for three years, and nothing’s changed this year.

“They’re so methodical with their game and how they want to play, and they’re very disciplined and tough to play against.”

The Storm can just about wrap up the minor premiership if it wins away from home, with fans hoping for even more good news as the club looks to finalise a new deal for Papenhuyzen, who confirmed last week that he wanted to stay in Melbourne beyond 2025.

“We’ve been worrying about our preparation, so I’m not quite sure where we are with that,” his coach said.

“That’s the hierarchy’s area. I’d like to think that he’d like to stay, and we certainly want to keep him.”