Craig Bellamy says NRL bunker has been ‘reasonably successful’

THE under-fire NRL bunker has found unlikely ally in Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy, who has urged patience with the league’s multi-million dollar baby.

The NRL’s referees bunker. Picture: NRL Photos.

THE under-fire NRL bunker has found unlikely ally in Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy, who has urged patience with the league’s multi-million dollar baby.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson launched an extraordinary attack on the video bunker after his side’s loss to St George Illawarra on Anzac Day.

Bellamy has been critical of the video referee system in the past, but on Thursday he labelled the bunker’s first eight rounds “reasonably successful” and said it was worth persisting with.

“There was always going to be some glitches along the way,” Bellamy said.

“They spent a lot of money on the bunker and put a lot of thought into it, so to expect it to be 100 per cent foolproof straight away is not realistic.

“I think we’ve had a few bad decisions along the way as you do, but I think we should all be a bit more patient with it.”

The Storm coach stressed the system is not perfect, although he said the good has outweighed the bad over the first part of the season.

“What their duties are or where their responsibilities start and stop, I think that’s something we need to sort out,” Bellamy said.

“But the main thing is we’re getting the right decision on the tries more often than not.

“And the other thing we really wanted from it was to make we make that decision were as quick as possible, and I think that’s been a success.

“There’s other things the bunker is creeping into now, and I’m not saying it’s right or wrong but the bunker is only eight weeks old so there’ll be a few glitches along the way.”

Storm’s outside backs situation is critical before its clash with the Titans on Sunday.

Fresh injuries to winger Marika Koroibete (ankle) and Young Tonumaipea (knee) means a backline reshuffle is again on the cards this week.

“At the moment we haven’t got a fit centre in the joint,” Bellamy said.

“We’ve always had the mentality that when someone misses out, someone else gets a chance.

“We just need to move a couple of players away from their regular position into the centres and see how we go.

“Hopefully in the next week or two we’ll get a reinforcement or two, because at the moment we really need them.”

When asked if he was referring to players coming back from injury or from outside the club, Bellamy replied:

“Both.

“There’s not a whole lot of them coming back in the short term, as Billy (Slater) and Will (Chambers) are Jeremy Hawkins very long-term.

“Curtis Scott shouldn’t be too far away, but the long-term injuries put pressure on everyone else.”

Marika Koroibete has joined the Storm injury list. Picture: Getty Images