Craig Bellamy’s instructions for Storm NRL grand final debutants

WITH 11 players lining up in their first NRL decider, coach Craig Bellamy has outlined his instructions for the Storm’s grand final debutants.

MELBOURNE Storm coach Craig Bellamy has instructed his young players to follow the lead of skipper Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk as much as possible before Sunday night’s NRL grand final.

For Storm, 11 of the 17 players from Saturday’s 14-12 preliminary final win over Canberra will be in their first decider.

With Cronk playing his sixth grand final and Smith his fifth, Bellamy has encouraged the debutants to draw on the pair’s big-game experience.

“Just listen to the older blokes,” Bellamy said when asked how the younger players should treat the week.

“I’ve had a chat to them and the guys that we have got, we’ve got two of the most experienced guys in the competition.

“We’ve got another three or four that have played in a grand final as well, so for a lot of young blokes this could be the biggest occasion in their lives.

“It’s really important they stick to what they’ve been doing all year, if they’re not playing well they wouldn’t be in the team, so what they do throughout the week during the year they need to do this week.”

Tohu Harris is one of 11 Storm players lining up for their first grand final. Picture: Colleen Petch

Storm held an open training session at Gosch’s Paddock on Wednesday before flying to Sydney. On Thursday it will have a full schedule of media and promotional commitments before closing ranks for game day.

“I’ll tell you one thing, there won’t be a lack of busyness,” Bellamy said.

“The amount of promotions the players have got to do is quite unbelievable to be quite honest, so I don’t think they’ll get bored.”

When quizzed whether he enjoyed the grand final build-up, Bellamy replied: “At the end of the day, I just prefer to get on with our preparation and what we need to do and turn up and play.

“You understand it because it’s a big week as far as promotion goes.

“There’s a whole heap of things going on, but I’d prefer not to go through it all, to be honest, but I understand it has to be done.”

Cameron Munster runs the ball during Storm’s open training session at Gosch’s Paddock. Picture: Colleen Petch

The Storm mentor, who is coaching in his sixth grand final, paid tribute to his side for the resilience shown to win through to the biggest game of the year.

“A lot of people don’t understand how hard it is to get to a grand final, so to do that has been really good for us,” Bellamy said.

“We’ve been through a little bit with injuries earlier in the year and then later in the year, but these guys have always stuck to the job they need to do and done it really well.”

Originally published as Craig Bellamy’s instructions for Storm NRL grand final debutants