While outsiders may be hailing their win over Parramatta as the greatest comeback in Melbourne's NRL history, the Storm players are seething with their performance.

Melbourne fought back from 18-0 down in the second half on Monday night at Parramatta Stadium to steal a four-point victory over the Eels.

But the side has vowed to improve against Penrith at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon.

"We were pretty honest after the match in terms of the way we played," halfback Cooper Cronk said.

"Our defence was pretty poor and our structure and attack wasn't quite there for the majority of the game."

Cronk said coach Craig Bellamy did give the side some praise for their attitude and the way they clawed their way back to take the two points.

"That's a good culture to have within a footy club, particularly at this time of year because in the bigger games at the end of the year you're going to have to scratch and claw and fight for every game," he told Melbourne radio station SEN.

"We don't want to put ourselves in that position at any stage for the rest of the year but knowing that if we are in that position, we do have a way to get out of them."

Cronk said the Storm's lofty ladder position meant they could use the match to experiment ahead of the finals.

"It's a short turnaround for us but we're obviously in a position where we can start trying a few things that may be beneficial for us later on in the year," he said.

While the side is four points clear on top of the NRL ladder with the minor premiership in sight, some critics said after the Parramatta performance the Storm are vulnerable.

"I think every side's vulnerable, you just need to perform well on the day," Cronk said.

"We train our backsides off to try to limit what other teams can do against us."

The clash with the Panthers is a milestone game for two players with journeyman forward Bryan Norrie playing his 100th NRL game and centre Dane Nielsen lining up for his 50th Storm game.

The Storm are still missing a number of key players such as five-eighth Gareth Widdop, winger Matt Duffie and forward Sika Manu through injury.

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