Melbourne Storm’s struggles proof 2020 NRL premiership will never have an asterisk
Any debate over this year’s premiership having an asterisk is dead when one of Australian sports greatest teams attempt to win the title while also operating a daycare centre.
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Do you want to know why the winner of the 2020 NRL premiership will never have an asterisk against their name?
Because one of Australian sports greatest teams are attempting to win the competition while also operating a daycare centre. Every day up on the Sunshine Coast, there are things happening that have never happened before in a season of rugby league.
If the Melbourne Storm can go all the way, it will be their greatest triumph.
Right now, there are 115 people living inside the Storm’s bubble, based at Twin Waters.
Putting that into context, every other club outside the Storm and the Central Coast-based Warriors, have about 50 players and staff inside their bubble.
The Storm’s mini-suburb includes every Melbourne player and coaching staff member, 28 wives and partners and 35 kids — of which 15 are under the age of two.
Dummies remain an attacking weapon in the eyes of Craig Bellamy, but so too is the pacifier he just picked up off the hotel floor.
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Home schooling happens after weights and daily creche times that arrive via group message on WhatsApp, are as important as the timeslot for tomorrow’s field session.
When football manager Ryan Hoffman first learned that the club needed to embark on something that doesn’t come under anyone’s job description at the Storm, he took the club’s credit card to Kmart.
As you do.
Hoffman, with player welfare manager Brian Phelan and general manager Frank Ponissi, spent $1000 on colouring-in books, puzzles and small chairs.
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So finite and delicate is the focus on trying to run one of the most revered sporting programs in the country, while also maintaining harmony, freedom and flexibility among the families, the Storm are about to appoint a relief-teacher for the children that have been unable to be enrolled into local Sunshine Coast schools.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner is no longer shared among burly footballers, but invitations are also sent to wives and partners and their kids for themed-dinners, like a burger night with Bellamy.
While the Warriors’ sacrifice to leave New Zealand has been widely recognised and lauded, the uprooting of Melbourne from their homes, schools, privacy and daily-routine has gone largely unnoticed.
They have been together in the same compound ever since the decision was made by the NRL for the Storm to get the hell out of Dodge (Victoria) last month.
It will be late October before this season is over and they can leave each other‘s company.
Let’s not pretend this is some type of prison sentence.
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As the hotel’s website promotes: “The resort is located on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, set in tropical gardens surrounding a central private lagoon with its own sandy beaches.
“The resort offers an extensive range of activities including complimentary water sports, an outdoor heated swimming pool and spa and a gym.”
However, as NRL interim CEO Andrew Abdo adds: “It’s like anything, the novelty wears off after about two days and then it becomes a grind.
“If ever there was a club that has shown a strong culture, a strong family culture and a sense of unity, it‘s that club.
“We fully respect their sacrifice and that‘s why the relocation of families occurred because we know how important families are for them.’’
One of the key learnings Hoffman and Ponissi took from their conversations with the Warriors about how that club has managed to coexist with so many different personalities, intangibles and everyday uncertainty, is through communication.
“The biggest thing we’ve done here is, any time we get any type of information we pass it on straight away,’’ Hoffman said.
“We don‘t keep things secret because we’ve found by speaking to other teams that have been in bubbles, including the Warriors, it’s the lack of information that people struggle with.
“From the outset, we’ve said, ‘These are the cards we’ve been dealt, so let’s make the best out of it’.
“It‘s a great opportunity to find a lot of silver linings and we feel we are.
“To have the families with us really alleviated a lot of concern about leaving Melbourne for what was an undetermined period of time.
“Everyone wants to be known as the family club and what this situation has done has brought 28 partners and 35 kids together and the oldest kid we’ve got is about 10 and the youngest one is little Foxx Addo-Carr, who is around six weeks old.’’
Ultimately, the Storm weren’t keen for this column to run.
Bellamy can’t cope with the thought of his players thinking that their unique situation will give them an easy out, or excuse, not to perform when it matters.
Second place on the NRL ladder ahead of Sunday’s clash with Newcastle and unbeaten since moving the big purple caravan north, gives you insight into the mental resilience Bellamy feeds his players for breakfast.
The Storm too, know that they‘re not the only footy club jumping hurdles, that they, like every other team, are in the midst of a war of attrition.
They’re quick to point out also, that even though they’re based in Queensland, their hearts are firmly with the people struggling in isolation in Melbourne.
“Victoria is still at the forefront of our minds,” Hoffman said.
And so is winning this year’s premiership.
Which brings us to the headlines of earlier this year, which suggested that due to the stop-start nature of the competition and it’s shortened-length of season, the title will be easier than past seasons to claim.
It should carry an asterisk, the argument went.
“Everyone is dealing with their own issues, like flying in and out on the day of the game, COVID testing most days and working within the restrictions,‘’ Hoffman said.
“To call it an asterisk, I completely disagree with.
“No one is at a better advantage than anyone else, we’ve all got to work through it.
“I think if you do manage to be successful this year, it will be one where you will take enormous pride in.”
Originally published as Melbourne Storm’s struggles proof 2020 NRL premiership will never have an asterisk