Melbourne Storm will be without gun centre Jack Howarth for multiple weeks after suffering a groin injury in the lead-up to his team’s stunning take down of the Brisbane Broncos as the Jahrome Hughes contingency plan went off without a hitch.

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With the availability of star Dally M-winning halfback Hughes up in the air due to a shoulder injury, the Storm have turned to utility Tyran Wishart and promising young half Jonah Pezet to fill the enormous void.

Wishart producing an eye-catching performance at halfback for the first 50 minutes before Pezet was inserted for the last half-hour and excelled in Thursday night’s 22-2 win at AAMI Park.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy said there was no need to rush Hughes back due to the form of Wishart in particular, but would like him to have some match fitness before finals.

“I don’t think we’re any wiser than we were last week,” he said of the Hughes return date.

“He seems to be coming on pretty well and the physios are happy with the way he’s coming on, so hopefully we’ll get him back sooner rather than later.

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“I’d just love to see him play a game before the finals to be quite honest, so we’ll just see how that goes.

“We’ve got four weeks before the finals now, so we’ll just see what happens.

“‘Wish’ is doing a great job there and ‘Pez’ came on and did a solid job as well, so we’re certainly not going to rush him.”

Wishart capped a superb game with a try.

The 25-year-old had 76 run metres, 243 kick metres and 33 tackles in 69 minutes, but more importantly looks in sync with five-eighth Cameron Munster.

Bellamy loves the readiness of Wishart, who also spent time in the centres when Pezet had his stint at halfback.

“His versatility is unbelievable,” Bellamy said.

“He never lets you down, he always gets the job done.

“He’s a great asset to have around … you just seem to be able to stick him anywhere and he gets the job done for us.”

High flyer Xavier Coates played another starring role for the Storm with two tries.

The 24-year-old was denied what would have been one of the tries of the season, a 95m intercept, by a few blades of grass and an unbelievable tackled by Broncos winger Selwyn Cobbo.

“He’s been such a great addition to our team since he’s come here,” Bellamy said.

“He just keeps really getting better and better to be quite honest.

“He’s defending a lot better now, he’s a lot more comfortable around the team and willing to give other players in the team advice, or a little rev when they need it.

“He had a great year last year and he’s had a wonderful year this year so far, so hopefully he can keep it up.”

Bellamy was thrilled with how the Storm’s defence stood up, keeping a potent Broncos side to just two points after they posted 60 the week before.

“That was one of our better defensive efforts for the season I thought,” he said.

“There’s still a few things attack wise we can improve a bit, but certainly it was a really good defensive effort and we’re real happy with that.”

Bellamy confirmed that young centre Jack Howarth will be out for multiple weeks with his groin injury.