NRL 2021: Dale Finucane wants to end his Storm tenure with premiership before Sharks move
He’s become the master of making grand finals - and the Sharks can’t wait to tap into that wealth of knowledge - but before he leaves, Dale Finucane has one last piece of business with the Storm.
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Warhorse Storm lock Dale Finucane says he has unfinished business to attend to before he joins the Sharks as he targets ending his stellar Melbourne career with another premiership ring.
The dust has now settled since the 29-year-old Melbourne co-captain signed a four-year deal with the Cronulla Sharks, starting next year. He has no regrets about his decision despite Craig Bellamy’s subsequent long-term commitment to the Storm.
Finucane is a Bellamy-style of player, more interested in the journey than the destination.
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More than anyone playing in the NRL today he understands the arduous road to get to season deciders having played in six grand finals – two at the Bulldogs and four with the Storm – in the past nine seasons. He’s won just two of those, both with Melbourne in 2017 and 2020, and is hungry for another title.
“The main goal is to go all the way. It is something I would love to do before I leave,” Finucane said.
“I have been lucky enough to be involved in a number of grand finals and I don’t take that for granted.
“There is a lot of work to do, and not forgetting the process of getting there as well.
“We are sitting first on the table at the moment but Craig says it can only take a bit of luck in finals, for us or the other team, to snag a win.
“Yes, we are in a strong position, and that’s great, but we want to be firing in those last games during the finals.”
Bellamy’s regard for where the Sharks are heading is so high that he seriously contemplated joining the club, before committing to the Storm for another five years.
Finucane is close with Cronulla’s 2022 coach Craig Fitzgibbon after spending time with him in NSW camp. Three weeks have passed since Finucane signed with the Sharks but his rapport with Bellamy was not impacted by his decision.
“It is still really good. Before I had signed a contract elsewhere I spoke to Craig to let him know I wouldn’t be able to remain at the club, and he was outstanding in guiding my decision,” he said.
“He answered any of the questions I had regarding off-field stuff and football-related things, and the conversations I had with him gave me clarity around my final decision.
“I have a strong enough relationship with Craig to be firstly able to say, I was moving on, reluctantly, and then to ask him to help guide me to the place he thought would be a good fit for me.”
Finucane had already signed his deal with the Sharks when he was in a team meeting on the Sunshine Coast as Bellamy announced he was staying on for another five years. With the Storm now on an 18-game winning streak, was there a twinge of pain at what he was leaving behind and that Bellamy would not coach him again beyond this year?
“Not at all,” Finucane said.
“I know he was speaking to Cronulla for a time and it would have been nice for him to jump across, but I am extremely happy for him to be involved with this club again.
“You’ve got to remember that Craig has spent almost two decades here at Melbourne. Every player that has come through this club has spoken of how Craig has developed them as a player, and I will speak to that myself. I have become a better player and person under Craig and even though I am leaving, I am extremely happy that he is staying on for years to come.”
The stunning Storm rejection that cost two premiership rings
“No thanks, I’m all right for now.”
This was Reimis Smith’s stunning rejection of Melbourne Storm’s advances as a teenager rising through the ranks at Canterbury.
It’s a decision that cost the now 24-year-old the chance to have been part of two title-winning campaigns had he joined the Victorian club back in 2016.
“A couple of years ago, when I was fresh into first grade they scouted me, there was a bit of interest there. At the time I was only young, I was 18, 19 and I didn’t want to leave home. So, it was sort of like ‘no thanks, I’m all right for now,” Smith told The Daily Telegraph.
Instead of collecting premiership rings, Smith spent the majority of his first full three seasons in the NRL trying to keep the Bulldogs off the bottom of the ladder.
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Despite being knocked back and the Bulldogs’ struggles on the field, Storm recruitment manager Paul Bunn kept a close on the outside back’s development at Belmore.
“It got to the time in my career where I was going to sink or swim,” Smith said.
“Then I just went for the opportunity when it come up again. They said ‘we’d like you down in Melbourne’. I thought about it, being a little I thought there wasn’t going to be another opportunity to go to the best team in the comp.
“So I just jumped at that, here we are today.”
‘Today’, Smith has cemented the right centre spot in coach Craig Bellamy’s outfit and has played every single game so far this season.
“They have helped me develop into the player I want to be,” Smith said.
“It’s been a big step for coming to a club like this. It has been a hard but also an easy transition in that it always helps winning and the coaching staff have also been good to me. It’s a good move.
“They make me accountable for my actions. Hard work, preseason at the Storm, they are known for their hard work.
“They have instilled that into me and I think that has really started to show on the filed now. I have to keep consistent with it.”
At the Storm, turning unwanted players into genuine NRL stars is an art form.
Players like fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen, flyer Josh Addo-Carr and hooker Brandon Smith were all handed a lifeline by the powerhouse club.
Like the countless players before him in purple, Smith has also emerged as one of the most improved players in the competition.
“It’s good that people are starting to notice me now. It hasn’t come easy, it has been countless days of hard work behind the scenes when no one is watching,” Smith said.
“So for it to be coming out now it makes me feel good because I know how much work I have put in. I had belief in myself when no one believed in me.”
Canterbury released Smith from the final year of his contract to join the Storm on a two-year deal.
Smith’s father, former NRL player and turned player agent Tyran Smith, made sure that this time his son put pen to paper when Bellamy came knocking.
“My dad gives it to me a little bit and sort of says ‘I told you so’,” Smith said.
“I think he wanted to clip me on the side of the head [when I said no].
“But at the time he wanted it to be my decision. He did say it’s a big opportunity, but I’d never left home and I didn’t want to move away from my family.
“This time he just said ‘you’ve to go, you’ve got go’”
Paps regains spark after ‘kick in the bum’ from Gus
— Fatima Kdouh
Ryan Papenhuyzen reveals the “wake up call” driving him to get back to his best, as Melbourne could be without another star after a brutal head knock in the Storm’s 26-16 win against Canberra.
Gould singled out Papenhuyzen during the week for being “a shadow of what he was” before falling victim to a severe concussion in Round 10.
It was enough to spur the NSW Blues hopeful into producing his best game on Thursday night since returning to the field one month ago.
“It was a bit of motivation,” Papenhayzen said. “Going into this week I had that in the back of my mind. It probably showed in my game. It felt like a kick in the bum and I just needed to react to that and be better.
“I’m the first to put my hand up and say my first few games haven’t been the greatest. It’s not an overnight thing, I’m working hard on it and I’m getting there.”
Up until the concussion, Papenhuyzen had been one of the NRL’s most prolific attacking players. In the first five games of the season, he had eight tries, four try assists and eight line breaks.
While Papenhuyzen is yet to register any key attacking stats since returning to the field — where he has played off the bench — on Thursday night he showed that he once again was willing to put his body on the line.
“If you go into a game half-arsed, things are going to happen to you,” he said.
“That’s my mentality at the minute. Just play like I normally would and just thrown my body at everything and hopefully come out best.
“I’m building confidence every week. I’m enjoying the week at training, just trying to do what I can do so getting at the ruckies and running at them, getting the physicality back so I’m prepared for the weekend.
“I’ve been doing that for a few weeks and it’s helping me build into games. I’ve been using that as a stepping stone and just build confidence from there.”
Storm coach Craig Bellamy had planned to start increasing Papenhuyzen’s game time from about 30 minutes a match but an untimely head knock to skipper Dale Finucane on Thursday night scuttled the coach’s interchange plan.
“He didn’t get as much time as we hoped but I’ll definitely make sure in the next game or over the next three weeks he gets plenty of time,” Bellamy said.
“He’s looked a little bit more confident each and every game. I think he’ll take a little bit of confidence out of his goalkicking as well.
“But I just see a bit more confidence in him from the first game he played until tonight.”
Bellamy is now also on the lookout for a new halves combination after halfback Jahrome Hughes suffered a sickening concussion following an ugly high tackle by Canberra’s Corey Harawira-Naera.
The Storm have a seven-day turn around before taking on the Gold Coast Titans but given the club’s cautious approach to concussion, Hughes is looking unlikely. Options include Cooper Johns and Nicho Hynes.
For Papenhuyzen, seeing his teammate Hughes knocked out cold on Thursday night was a jarring reminder of the seriousness of concussion and prolonged symptoms.
“I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone,” Papenhuyzen said.
“I went and seen him after the game, as you can expect he was a little bit groggy.
“I felt so sorry for him as soon as he went down.
“I know what he is going through, hopefully it isn’t like my situation where the symptoms go on for a long time.”
BELLAMY SHRUGS OFF PAPS CRITICISM
— Travis Meyn
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy admits Phil Gould is right about Ryan Papenhuyzen looking “cautious and tentative” but backed the Storm dynamo to rebound and become the NRL’s most dangerous player again.
Papenhuyzen played his fourth match since returning from a serious concussion when the Storm defeated the Raiders at Sunshine Coast Stadium on Thursday night.
The dynamic fullback once again came off the bench as he continues a progressive return to the NRL after missing seven matches due to the lingering symptoms of a heavy concussion.
At his best, Papenhuyzen is one of the most explosive players in the game with his scintillating speed and evasiveness making him a marvel to watch.
But there is no doubt the 2020 Clive Churchill medallist hasn’t been at his peak, possibly due to the mental scars of such a serious injury.
After watching Papenhuyzen play 34 minutes in the Round 21 win against Manly, league legend Gould claimed he was a “shadow of himself” and looked tentative.
Bellamy said even Papenhuyzen would admit he wasn’t back to his best, but he had no concerns about the Storm’s first-choice No.1 rediscovering his top form.
“Phil is probably right. We all realise that. Paps realises that as well,” he said before the Storm’s clash with the Raiders.
“He has only played three games since a really bad injury that put him out for a long time. We want to make sure we’re patient with him and not expecting too much too soon.
“I’m very confident he’ll be back to his best as long as we are patient with him. I’ve seen improvement in his timing and confidence and willingness to get involved.
“He’s got a little better each game he’s played. Hopefully he can just keep doing that.
“We will keep monitoring how Paps is going. I don’t think match condition will be a problem for Paps, he is fit as.
“Getting his confidence and timing back is the thing we’re looking forward to at the moment.”
What Papenhuyzen’s form has done is give Nicho Hynes more time in the No.1 jersey.
The Cronulla-bound Hynes has been a revelation at fullback for the Storm in Papenhuyzen’s absence, starting 13 of the past 14 games and starring for the Storm.
Bellamy said he was happy with how the Hynes-Papenhuyzen combination was working and he had no concerns about continuing with Melbourne’s odd interchange make-up, which also includes hooker Harry Grant on the bench.
“I can’t see why not, we put Harry on and Brandon (Smith) goes into the ruck,” he said.
“When Brandon is playing in the ruck there’s not too many players you’d prefer in the ruck. He is a really good player and important to our team wherever he is playing.
“If we think having those two guys on the bench is going to work for us then we’ll do it, if we don’t then we won’t.
“When those guys come on the other guys can play different positions.”
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
— Nick Smart
Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy is resigned to his side staying in Queensland until the end of the season and being forced to win a second consecutive NRL title on the road.
With the finals approaching, it was hoped Storm would be able to return to Melbourne and play finals matches in front of its fans at AAMI Park.
Victoria’s latest lockdown extension appears to have scuppered that idea, with Bellamy admitting on Thursday his ladder-leading side would have to again do it the hard way.
“I’ve already got my head around it, I can’t see us going back so we’ll be staying here,” he said. “The sooner us as a group get our head around that, the better off we’ll be.”
The ladder-leading Storm won their 18th consecutive game on Thursday night, defeating the Raiders at Sunshine Coast Stadium. Melbourne needs one more win to equal the 1975 Roosters all-time record of 19 straight victories.
The Storm play the Titans at Cbus Super Stadium in Round 23.
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