Gorden Tallis: Broncos must follow Storm’s lead on making tough calls

A coach cannot lose the trust of his players, but that’s exactly what Anthony Seibold has done at the Broncos. For the club to bounce back, they need look no further than just down the highway, writes GORDEN TALLIS.

Gorden Tallis believes Anthony Seibold lost the trust of the players, and for the club to bounce back they have to look to the Storm.

IF the Brisbane Broncos want a blueprint on how to dig themselves out of this mess they need only look 100km up the Bruce Highway.

There they will find the Melbourne Storm – the NRL’s No. 2 ranked team who are defying the odds to once again challenge for this year’s premiership.

The Storm continue to amaze. When you think they are about to fall over they rise again.

It has been nearly two months since they were forced to move out of home to the Sunshine Coast with 48 hours’ notice and no idea when they would return.

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Storm coach Craig Bellamy has steered his team through uncharted waters perfectly. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

It has become clear the Storm won’t be going back to Melbourne until their 2020 season is officially over and that may not be until after the grand final on October 25.

There is no better coach in the NRL than Craig Bellamy and the Broncos should be doing their best to mimic the successful system he has produced.

The Storm’s 24-6 win against the Roosters on Thursday night was as impressive as they come.

The Roosters, premiers for the past two years, have some injury problems but the Storm were without arguably the greatest player of all-time in Cameron Smith, and also Cameron Munster, one of the NRL’s top halves.

Bellamy continues to find a way to get it done, slowly chipping away and racking up wins to set his side up for a premiership tilt in the finals.

He has created a system in Melbourne that has produced an endless stream of talent, not only for the Storm but also other cashed-up clubs in the NRL.

When the Storm lose a player to injury or a rival club they have another one ready to step right in and shine.

They have the right balance of experience in youth in their squad.

There is leadership from Smith, Jesse Bromwich and Dale Finucane to complement the outstanding talent of Ryan Papenhuyzen, Brandon Smith and Jahrome Hughes.

No team has a better level of trust between players and coach like the Melbourne Storm.

You can see it in the way they play and how they develop as people. They don’t deviate from their goals.

Part of that is because Bellamy has always made tough decisions.

The Warriors have been praised immensely for relocating from New Zealand to keep the competition alive and rightly so.

But the Storm have made nearly as big a sacrifice without receiving the plaudits.

Bellamy chats with his players on the Sunshine Coast, where they were shipped off to at short notice during the border shutdowns. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

When you are away from your home and family it’s not the distance that matters, it’s the time apart.

The Storm are everything the Broncos are not right now.

When the Broncos have suffered an injury there has been nobody ready to step in.

They lack leadership and trust in what they are trying to achieve.

Coach Anthony Seibold has lost the respect of his players and their off-field behaviour is indicative of a club that is confused about its priorities.

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Seibold has not made the tough decisions this year and it has hurt the Broncos in many ways.

The closest coach to Bellamy at the moment is the Roosters’ Trent Robinson.

When Ricky Stuart departed the Roosters in 2006 they experimented with Chris Anderson, Brad Fittler and Brian Smith over the next six seasons.

The club continued to make hard calls until it found the man they wanted in Robinson, who won the 2013 NRL premiership in his first season in charge.

It’s time the Broncos started making some tough decisions and they don’t have to look far to see how it’s done.

Originally published as Gorden Tallis: Broncos must follow Storm’s lead on making tough calls