Phil Gould says the Melbourne Storm were too conservative against defending premiers Cronulla on Sunday where they went down 11-2.

The premiership-winning coach also singled out five-eigth James Maloney for praise.

“Five-eighth James Maloney schemed away on both sides of the field, bringing his able back-rowers Wade Graham and Luke Lewis onto the ball with short passes that had them one-on-one with the smaller Melbourne halves” Gould wrote for Wide World of Sports.

“They didn’t force many line breaks, but these two fellas were definitely bending the line back with every charge.

“They physical battering they dished out eventually took its toll on the Storm playmakers, Cooper Cronk and Ryley Jacks.

“I felt the Storm were guilty of being a little too conservative (read negative) in their mindset. Having got to front 2-0 courtesy of a first-half penalty goal, they gave you the impression they thought they could defend that meagre lead until full-time to get the win.

“Once the Sharks levelled the scores at 2-2 with a penalty goal of their own, the Storm were so bogged down in their play they couldn’t get activated to pose a serious threat to the Shark’s defensive line.

“Anyway, that’s the game that I saw.

“The Sharks were too good. They are a team you have to beat, because they are not going to beat themselves.”