Opinion: $5.6 million question is whether Bellamy is the right man to replace Bennett at Broncos

MAKING sure the Broncos get the right man to take over from Wayne Bennett is a given. The $5.6 million question is whether Craig Bellamy is the right man, writes Mike Colman.

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EXTRA, extra, read all about it. Broncos start search for coach to take over from Wayne Bennett in 2020. Shock, horror.

Really, that’s a surprise?

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett at training today. Photo: AAP

Surely the shock and horror would be if the Broncos weren’t already looking for someone to replace Bennett.

After all, let’s not forget what happened the last time Bennett flew the coop. It took two coaches to fill his giant boots and neither of them came close.

So making sure the Broncos get the right man is a given. The $5.6 million question is whether Craig Bellamy is the right man.

The record books would attest that Bellamy is a bona fide Supercoach.

Since taking over the Storm in 2003 he has won two premierships (not counting the two that were taken away) and has turned a group of unknown kids into some of the biggest names in the game.

But therein lies the rub: did Bellamy make the players, or did the players make Bellamy?

Billy Slater and Craig Bellamy. Photo: Getty Images

In his 15 seasons at the Storm Bellamy has been able to field some of the best young players of all time in the likes of Greg Inglis, Israel Folau, Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk.

We now know that due to a salary cap-cheating then-CEO, four of those seasons were “wind assisted”, but even so Bellamy’s overall winning percentage of over 62 per cent is not to be sneezed at.

But neither is the influence of those players.

In 2008 when Cameron Smith was suspended, the Storm lost the grand final to Manly by 40-nil.

Bellamy’s critics could argue that a great coach can find a way for his team to win — or at the very least not be humiliated — when it loses its best player, not just when it is at full strength.

And certainly the Bellamy golden touch wasn’t on show when he coached NSW in State of Origin. In three losing series between 2008 and 2010 the Blues won just two of nine games, going down in the 2010 series 3-0.

The “chicken and the egg” argument of whether the coach makes the players or the players make the coach is one that Wayne Bennett faced often during his first stint at the Broncos. Bennett’s detractors suggested that Blind Freddy could have won premierships with the pool of talent he had at his disposal.

Those same detractors were noticeably quiet when Bennett left the comfort of the Broncos and took chronic underachievers St George-Illawarra to their first premiership in 2010, beating the Roosters 32-8.

Wayne Bennett is chaired by Dragons players as they present the Premiership trophy to supporters. Photo: Braden Fastier

Two years later, he took the Newcastle Knights from 12th spot the previous season to within one game of the grand final.

In 2015, after the Broncos had finished eighth and 12th the previous two years, Bennett returned and took them to the grand final where they lost to the Cowboys by golden point.

Could Craig Bellamy have achieved the same results with poor performing teams? We’ll never know, although if he returns to Brisbane in 2020 we’ll get a fair idea.

Which makes the Broncos’ current search for a coach so important. Should they be going for the biggest name, or the one with the best record at rebuilding?

Or maybe they should just be concentrating on finding the next generation of Inglis, Slater and Smith.

You know. The type of players that Blind Freddy could coach.

Originally published as Opinion: $5.6 million question is whether Bellamy is the right man to replace Bennett at Broncos