NRL coaching clipboard: Craig Bellamy attacks Melbourne Storm fullback, leadership issues

There was Penrith, Brisbane, daylight, then Melbourne. Storm coach Craig Bellamy reveals how the perennial contenders can have a shot at the title, as well as addressing his NRL future.

Melbourne have been perennial contenders but they are facing one of the most significant offseasons in their recent history as they look to close the gap to Penrith and Brisbane. Storm coach Craig Bellamy sat down with Brent Read to talk about chasing a fourth premiership.

Brent Read: Craig, you had a solid season – finishing third on the ladder – but couldn’t keep pace with Brisbane and Penrith in the finals. As you prepare for your 22nd season at the helm of the Storm, how quickly are you able to move on from finals exits?

Craig Bellamy: You have to move on at some stage. Having said that, I have always looked and hopefully learned something off bad situations and also good situations. Summing up our year, the guys did a good job to finish where we did on the table. At the moment, the Broncos and Penrith are a bit ahead of everyone else. Everyone else is trying to narrow the gap. They are ahead of us in certain areas so we have to try to find a way to close that gap. We did a pretty good job to get to where we did – third on the ladder – but really disappointed with how we did go out against those two teams. They were very dominant in the finals in the end in the games against us. That was the big thing.

Craig Bellamy was disappointed with Melbourne’s finals exit.

BR: How do you close the gap?

CB: There are a few things. Physically, I think they were fairly dominant, those sides. We need to be better with our leadership and that is part of educating some of our players, but also a bit of education for us too in how we need to fast-track our players to be leaders. That is one of the things we need to look at this year.

Melbourne couldn’t keep pace with Penrith and Brisbane in 2023. Picture: Adam Head

BR: A few years back you made some changes when you felt like the club had lost your way. You turned around and won the comp within a year or two. Is it fair to say you are in a similar situation – as in it feels like the team needs an attitude shift?

CB: That would be fair. That is not just our players, that is everyone at the club. I need to do that myself, to be honest. There are some things where if we had last year over again – if we could start again – there would be some things I would do differently. I just know for me, I find it hard to change things during the season. At times, most of the time, I am focused on the now. I find it hard to look too far ahead. There are some other guys in the club who are good at that. But if we had the season over again, there are some things I would do differently.

BR: Can you go into specifics?

CB: As I said, there would be a couple of things leadership-wise through the club. Not just the players. Also, there are a couple of other things I don’t really want to make public. Again, you’re not going to throw everything out. At the end of the day, there are a couple of little things we can do better. That is what it is about. Hopefully we can close that gap or go part way to closing that gap between the top two and us.

Ryan Papenhuyzen’s return will boost the Storm. Picture: NRL Photos

BR: When you stack the side up, there is still a lot of quality. The spine is as good as anyone, especially if Ryan Papenhuyzen comes back and is the player he was before injury struck him down?

CB: I don’t think there were some of our players who played as well as they are capable of playing. We have to find why that is and find ways to work that out. To lose the players we did at the start for last year, we knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ride. But as I said, if we could go back to the start of last year, there would be some things we would do differently.

BR: Speaking of Papenhuyzen, he seems in a good place. Getting him back would be huge but you also have young Sua Faalogo coming through. In your head do you know how you will use them?

CB: There is no use putting things in cement. The way the cards will get dealt with Paps is going to decide a fair bit. We have come this far with him and he has come this far, we are not going to take any risks with him. The other cards should fall into place once we have that sorted out.

Storm young gun Sua Fa'alogo is an excitement machine. NRL Pics

BR: Talking about young Sua, he is such an exciting talent. He made his debut at the end of last season and looked electric. Do you need to find a way to get him involved more next year?

CB: He has played what, the one first grade game. He has played a couple of games for Samoa. That is not much experience at the top level. We will do what we think is right for the team and what is right for him as well. He is sharp with his speed and his footwork, but he is still learning the game. It is not an easy position to play, especially at NRL level. To get in the grind of that is another thing young players have to get used to. But we’re excited to have him in our team and he is a local kid, too. There is a fair bit of hype around him – hopefully he can live up to that. We will do what is right for the team and especially what is right for him.

BR: What about your future – is it going to drag it out again?

CB: We will see how things go and go from there. But I think this is going to be my last year – that is what I said last year, too. We will see what happens.

Craig Bellamy admits the club has struggled with replacing the leadership provided by former forwards Jesse and Kenny Bromwich. Picture: Brendan Beckett

BR: Just getting back to leadership, you mentioned that was an area that needed to be addressed. Does that mean you are looking at the captaincy?

CB: I am talking about the team as a group. Leadership is not just about one bloke. It is a team thing. We knew it was going to be difficult when Jess (Bromwich) left – he was our captain. When Jess didn’t play, Kenny (Bromwich) was basically our captain. Then Felise (Kaufusi) was a very experienced player and he might have been the next bloke up. It’s not just leadership, it is experience, too. Those guys have probably played 800-900 games. It was a big loss. It wasn’t about leadership, it was experience too. Again, I am not just talking about the players – I am talking about me and some of the other staff as well. If we had our time over again we would do some things differently.