‘He’s always perfect’: Melbourne Storm star’s Craig Bellamy jab
The Melbourne Storm won the game, but Craig Bellamy still wasn’t happy and one of his star’s gave the coach a cheeky clip.
NRL
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Cameron Munster took a cheeky shot at Storm coach Craig Bellamy after Melbourne’s 28-16 win over the Gold Coast on Saturday.
At 65, Bellamy isn’t showing any signs of mellowing, regularly venting his frustrations in the coach’s box during the game, which was held in atrocious conditions.
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While the Storm would win the slugfest by 12 points, you wouldn’t know his team was on top judging by Bellamy’s antics.
Renowned as one of the fieriest characters in the NRL, Bellamy has often been seen slamming the desk or berating his players over his wildly successful 22-year tenure.
On Saturday, his main move was simply to stand up and walk away whenever he was displeased by a play, rather than rant and rave.
Maybe his doctor has had a chat with him about his blood pressure?
Despite the Storm taking a 16-6 lead into halftime after a double from winger Sualauvi Faalogo, Munster initially had an inkling what his coach would be thinking as he spoke at halftime.
“He won’t be too happy,” he said. “I think we shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times.
“A couple of passes under pressure, myself, a couple of other guys throwing balls and not hitting targets.
“Hopefully we can do it a bit better in the second half.”
It didn’t get much better early in second half, however, with Ryan Papenhuyzen tackled with the ball on the last play just metres from the Gold Coast try line.
That was enough for Bellamy to get up out of his seat and walk to the back of the coach’s box.
“Great tackle from Brian Kelly and that’s got the coach walking,” Michael Ennis said on Fox Sports.
“He’s out of the box, he’s had enough already, we’re only five minutes into the second half.”
Lara Pitt then gave a report from the sheds after the break.
“Craig Bellamy certainly looking frustrated already to open this second half,” she said.
“He was saying to his side at halftime consistency is key, they need to stick to their processes in the second half, particularly in these conditions.”
There was some consistency – consistent errors in the awful weather.
Just two minutes later, Storm captain Jahrome Hughes tried a grubber kick that went straight to the Titans about four metres out.
Directly after that turnover Melbourne conceded a penalty to again let the Titans off the hook and Bellamy had seen enough, again standing up and walking away from the action.
“He’s not happy at all Craig and rightly so,” Ennis said. “That was unusual, you don’t see Jahrome Hughes often get those wrong.”
Warren Smith then quipped: “He needs a sneaker sponsor Craig. He must go through some pairs.
“He’ll need salt tablets, he’ll be cramping up in the coach’s box with all the metres he’s done.”
Ennis added: “He’s doing some laps. “He is unhappy this afternoon, there’s no doubt about that.”
Imagine how Bellamy would have responded if his team had actually lost the game.
While the Storm made some errors, the Titans were far more guilty, making 15 to Melbourne’s six, although the visitors were on the wrong end of an 8-5 penalty count.
Pitt then mentioned the coach’s behaviour again speaking to a drenched Munster after the fulltime whistle.
“The coach, there were various points in the broadcast, he was almost doing a walkout of the coach’s box,” she said.
“Can you give us some insight into how that plays out now when you get into the sheds?”
Munster gave a sensational insight into his coach, and gave him a little clip, with his reply.
“He’s a worry wart, he loves perfection and unfortunately when you play rugby league it’s not always going to be perfect,” he said.
“He wants it to be, but in these conditions there’s going to be dropped balls, there’s going to be decisions that no one wants to do.
“No one’s perfect but unfortunately for ‘Bellyache’, he’s always perfect by the sound of it.
“He’ll probably be disappointed but we only let in 16 points … pretty happy.”
Fans had noticed the constant shots of Bellamy storming out of his seat during the game and provided some more commentary on social media.
One tweeted: “Can we please have the ‘Bellamycam’ a permanent fixture in the corner every storm game?”
Another suggested: “Gogglebox but it’s just Craig Bellamy.”
Some fans weren’t enjoying it quite so much, with one writing: “@FOXNRL WILL YOU STOP showing the coach FFS.”
Another sympathised with the legendary coach, stating: “This Storm team has all the talent but f**k are they dumb. Probably one of the more frustrating years for Bellamy.”
Regardless of his antics, or his blood pressure, Bellamy’s Storm moved into second place with the victory with a 7-4 record ahead of next week’s clash with the Cowboys.
The Titans continue to struggle under Des Hasler, sitting on just three wins for the year and ahead of only the Penrith Panthers in the standings.
Originally published as ‘He’s always perfect’: Melbourne Storm star’s Craig Bellamy jab
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