NRL 2021: Q&A with Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy

Craig Bellamy talks premierships, Cameron Smith and the leading contenders for Suliasi Vunivalu’s vacant wing spot.

Despite all the adversity of the 2020 season, Melbourne Storm managed to win their fourth legitimate premiership after spending most of the season outside Victoria due to COVID-19 border restrictions.

Storm finished the season in second place with just four losses, beating minor premiers Penirth Panthers in the Grand Final. If there was any question that Craig ‘Bellyache’ Bellamy is one of the greatest coaches of all time, there can surely be no more doubt.

2021 will provide some new challenges for Melbourne, with future immortal Cameron Smith tipped to hang up the boots, Suliasi Vunivalu moving to Rugby Union and young gun Tino Fa’asuamaleaui moving to the Gold Coast.

Bellamy speaks to NICK SMART about his the crazy 2020 season, his future in the NRL, the Storm’s next captain, and who will start at hooker in 2021 with Cameron Smith likely gone.

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Cameron Smith is yet to announce his plans for the 2021 NRL season, but Craig Bellamy is anticipating he will retire. Picture: Getty Images.

Craig, you’ve had a bit of time to reflect on 2020. Was it the greatest title in your time at Storm given the challenge of being away from home all season?

I think it was pretty close. There were a lot of challenges as you could imagine, but I’d probably go back to 2012 given what had happened in 2010 (with the salary cap penalties). To win a premiership two years later was probably a little more remarkable for want of a better word. What happened in 2010 nearly ripped us apart, to be quite honest. I’d rate last year’s title as very, very close to that, but if I had to make a decision on one of them I’d go that way (with 2012).

Looking ahead to this season, winning back to back titles has eluded you in your time here and the club itself is yet to do it. Only one club has achieved it in the NRL era. Will that be a theme at all for you this year?

Not really. Early in the season we won’t be looking at what we have to do to win again, we’ll be looking at what we have to do to be the best prepared we can be. There’s obviously a lot of things you can do to help you win a title, but a few other things need to go your way as well. Sometimes they’re out of your control, so we’ll just sort of control our preparation for the start of the season and go from there.

Who are some of the young and emerging players you’re looking forward to seeing this season?

There are the guys like Paps (Ryan Papenhuyzen), who’s still new to first grade and (Jahrome) Hughes, who’s still new to the half position. I’m looking for some improvement from those blokes. We’ve got some kids who we think will be fairly good for us, guys like Trent Loiero, who’s a young back-rower, and Dean Ieremia, who’s from Victoria. We think he’s going to go really well, but they didn’t play any footy last year. That is really tough to miss a year where you’re not playing or practising at that age of their development. Hopefully there’s a few guys that will poke their nose through, and there’s older guys like Chris Lewis and probably Nicho Hynes, who I’d like to think will be better for the experience and will know what to expect now after playing NRL last year.

Harry Grant is set to play at hooker for Storm in 2021 after a breakout season for the Tigers and Maroons. Picture: Getty Images.

If this is it for Cameron Smith, does Harry Grant have a lock on the No.9 or is Brandon Smith still in the frame? Is that a hard call?

It is and it will be. Brandon I think prefers to play as hooker, but he just gives you so much in his other position as well. I’d like to think he’d play a bit of both, but I think Harry will spend the most of his time at dummy half. Brandon is a dummy half as well, but he is a very effective when he plays that other role as well.

You must have been pretty excited watching what Harry did in the Origin decider on debut for Queensland?

I have to admit, Harry I suppose settled into NRL a little bit quicker and a little bit better than I thought he would. We knew what a good player he is, but I must say I was pleasantly surprised how quickly he adapted to the NRL and by the way he played all last year. What he did in Origin didn’t surprise me to be honest, but it probably surprised me a little bit earlier in the season when he adapted as early as he did.

Who is the leading contender for Suliasi Vunivalu’s vacant wing spot?

Suliasi Vunivalu has left the Storm for rugby union.

It’s an interesting one for us. Isaac Lumelume played a couple of games there last year and was quite impressive, and he’s been in club land before us at the Sharks. We were impressed with him and we’ve got Reimis Smith coming down. I honestly think Reimis is more suited to the centres, but with him and Brenko (Lee), one of them might play in the centres and the other on the wing. We haven’t got that position nailed down so there’s a real opportunity for a young bloke. And I already mentioned Dean Ieremia, a local kid who I think has first grade in him at some stage, but it would be a big ask throwing him in early. I think it will come out of Isaac, Brenko or Reimis.

Craig Bellamy says the 2020 Grand Final win is one of Storm’s greatest considering all the adversity of the season. Picture: Getty Images.

As it stands now, will anyone miss the start of the season through injury?

I think the only one that will probably miss a bit of time is Max King, who’s had some trouble with his achilles and had an operation. Ryley Jacks has had a shoulder reconstruction so he’ll be on the borderline as well.

You’ve got former Warriors coach Stephen Kearney coming in as an assistant coach to replace Jason Ryles. It is Kearney’s second coaching stint under you after being here from 2006 until 2010. What will he bring?

It’s amazing how quickly time goes as he left at the end of 2010. When he walked back in it didn’t feel like he’d been gone that long. He’s already doing a great job getting to know how we work and all the players. He’ll be a real asset to us without a doubt.

Worst case scenario, would you be willing to be away from home the entire season again like last year?

I think so. There might be some people there in our club that won’t be and I’d understand that. I’m certainly not going to hold it against anyone if that happened. I’ve thought about it a bit myself and it certainly wouldn’t be ideal but if it came again I think I could grit my teeth and get through it again. But you just don’t know what’s going to happen, and hopefully we play at home this season and our Melbourne fans can get along to it.

If Cameron Smith has finished up, Jesse Bromwich and Dale Finucane loom large as the potential new captain. Will you have a difficult decision to make?

I’ve had a bit of a chat to Jesse about it and I haven’t really spoken to too many others about it. Dale hasn’t been in yet, so we’re talking about a couple of different things at the moment and how they feel about it. It’s not going to be easy for whoever gets the job. Cameron’s had it for that long and has missed hardly any games, so even someone who’s obviously very experienced in the NRL wouldn’t have had much experience at captaining. We just need to be careful who we give that to as we don’t want it to affect their game. We want it to add to the team, so we need to have a good think about it and get some opinions when everyone is back.

Craig Bellamy says it’s looking likely 2021 will be his last year as a head coach in the NRL. Picture: Getty Images.

Is 2021 still the last dance for you as head coach at Melbourne?

At this stage it is. I’m not quite sure when I’m going to make that decision or when I’m going to have to make that decision. I haven’t really sort of changed. I’ve only been back for a week so far this year and I’ve really enjoyed coming back, so at the moment I’m really enjoying it, but I’m sure there will be a couple of things that come up that make me think ‘what the hell am I doing here?’. That’s still the plan at the moment.

Storm chairman Matt Tripp obviously wants to keep you at Storm post 2021 in any role, even if you’re based in Queensland. Would it be hard to end your association with Storm?

If that happens it would be. I’ve been here a long time and I’ve seen a lot of players come and go and a lot of ups and downs, so it’s been a great ride and I’ll always be grateful for the opportunity Storm gave me at the start but also sticking with me through 19 years. If we do cut ties it would feel a little bit strange I’d imagine, but life goes on.

Coaching director at the Broncos appears to be on the table for you from 2022. Does that remain an appealing option and one you’re considering?

I haven’t really spoken to any other clubs for a while now. I decided just before the semis (finals) last year that I was going to park that. I’ve had a bit of a break now so within the next few weeks I’d imagine I’ll probably start thinking about it again and then we’ll see what happens from there.

Originally published as NRL 2021: Q&A with Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy