Rugby league’s coach of the century Jack Gibson used to say he couldn’t have won his five premierships without a right-hand man as good as Ron Massey.

Jack regarded his sidekick as his most valuable asset, as much as having old champions like Arthur Beetson, Ray Price, Peter Sterling, Brett Kenny or Mick Cronin in his footy teams.

Going into the finals, Melbourne Storm has a brains trust the sharpest and closest we’ve seen to the legendary old Gibson and Massey partnership – Craig Bellamy and Frank Ponissi, who have been together for 14 years and four premierships.

They recently equalled the remarkable Gibson/Massey record of 19 straight wins at the Eastern Suburbs Roosters in 1975, a team that went on to beat St George 38-nil in the grand final.

This all began back in 2008 when Dean Lance, an old teammate of Bellamy at the Canberra Raiders, quit Storm as their footy manager.

Ponissi credits Fox League star Matty Johns for persuading him to take on the role in Melbourne when he returned home from a five-year coaching stint in European rugby union.

He had offers to consider from the Manly Sea Eagles and Storm.

“I remember asking Matty about the job because he was doing a bit of work for them,” Ponissi recalls. “I’d managed a Kangaroo tour that Matty was on and we knew each other well.

“He also gave Craig a huge rap as a person, not just a coach.”

Bellamy and Ponissi have now become a unique combination and amalgamation of great football minds, but with different strengths and different assets for the footy club.

Bellamy is the week-to-week game-strategy genius.

Ponissi is the man who takes more of a big-picture approach, planning long term.

“Craig is purely focused on the upcoming game whether it’s round one of the competition or the first week of the finals,” Ponissi says.

“He puts 95 per cent of his energy into the next game. My job is to look beyond that game. What the next couple of weeks are going to look like. I’ve got an eye on next year to plan ahead.

“Obviously I keep him briefed on recruitment and other issues but he’s so focused on each weekend.

“That’s why he’s so successful. Some coaches can have too much on their plates. They probably don’t spend as much time with the prep while Bellyache is totally absorbed in it.”

Some might look at Bellamy from outside Storm’s four walls and wonder how he does it.

We so regularly see the coaching box madness and intensity whenever the Fox Sports or Channel 9 cameras are pointed in his direction.

Ponissi has heard it all, most often through headsets on the sideline.

On Bellamy’s temperament, Ponissi says: “I call it passion rather than madness. He just cares.

“The standards are high and he drives it all. There’s two important words at our club … expectations and standards. No matter what your role as player, coach, any staff member, whatever … it’s clear what’s expected of you.

“Plus, the last half a dozen years he’s learnt to switch off. I see it all the time. It’s a skill of his. That’s why he’s survived so long at the very top of his game. He’s got an on/off button.”

Bellamy is quick to acknowledge Ponissi’s calming influence.

“I’ve had the odd blow up … people have seen that,” Bellamy said. “But Frank’s always there talking common sense. When I get hot under the collar he’s the calming person you want to have around.”

Like Gibson, Bellamy is quick to recognise and acknowledge the crucial role that Ponissi has played in the pathways, the planning and the premierships.

No other club in the history of the game has a record of consistently developing average players into great football players.

“The most important thing for me is that Frank lets me coach the side,” Bellamy said. “At times some coaches try to do more than actually coach the team.

“I’ve always had the mentality that my job is to coach. So Frank looks after just about everything else. His best trait is how organised he is. Everything at our place is always done well and done on time. I wouldn’t have been as successful without him. He’s a massive part of what we do.”

A huge reason behind their success is their hunger to improve and keep learning.

Prior to Covid, the pair went on annual study trips to Europe and the United States at soccer clubs, NFL teams and even had two stints with the All Blacks.

“We’ve looked into organisations that have stayed at the top for a long time,” Ponissi says. “The ones that are consistently successful.

“You see a different side to Bellyache – he’s incredibly relaxed when we’re away.

“We can really sit back and absorb and talk about how we can be better

“There were two stints with the All Blacks, a week in Auckland and a week in Chicago. They were probably the benchmark. The thing is you see 1000 things but the skill is picking up what’s relevant and adapting it to our club. We always speak about what can make us better.

“It’s so important to look at what’s happening overseas.”

Not all of their time together has been smooth sailing.

There was the 2010 salary cap scandal, the one year in Bellamy’s coaching career that Storm failed to make the finals.

“Our biggest success was actually recovering from that mess,” Ponissi said. “We were on our knees, rock bottom. Getting the club through 2010 was a feat in itself.

“To win the minor premiership in 2011 and then the grand final in 2012 set the platform for the next decade. That’s where the evolution of the big three came from.

“It was those extra bits at training, their professionalism, how they encouraged and brought the younger players through. And how genuinely they cared about the place and the standards they set. They were teenagers when Craig started.”

Saturday night’s match against the Manly Sea Eagles marked the beginning of their 13th finals campaign in 14 years together.

No other team has been anywhere near as consistently outstanding.

For all their on-field talent of Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Brandon Smith and Harry Grant, so much of it comes back to these two men in charge.

“I remember having a coffee with Bellayche over the road from our old training ground at Princes Park when I first started,” Ponissi said. “I wanted to know about his coaching philosophy, his ideas and his expectations.

“I found out quickly that he’s as black and white as you can get. You never walk out of his office second guessing. He doesn’t play political games. There’s no agendas. He doesn’t play mind games. He’s straight. You know exactly where you stand. That’s what makes him so special.”

Australia’s most successful sporting teams of the past 20 years

1. Melbourne Storm

Have missed the finals just once in 19 seasons since Craig Bellamy took over in 2003. They’ve won six of 10 grand finals since 1999, although two of those premierships were stripped because of salary cap breaches.

The only time the Storm have failed to make the finals was in 2010, when they served their salary cap penalty.

Remarkably, they have finished in the top two on the ladder every year since 2016, and continued that excellence despite losing their “big three” of Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith.

2. Perth Wildcats

The NBL’s most successful side with 10 championships, the Wildcats are the owners of a world-record streak of 35 consecutive finals series. The feat is only diminished somewhat by the fact there’s been as few as eight teams in the league. They’ve won five of the nine grand finals they have contested since 2003.

3. NSW Breakers

The all-conquering women’s one-day team is a cricketing marvel. Since the inception of the WNCL 50-over competition in 1996, NSW has won it 20 times, including 14 since 2003. Their most recent win came in 2018-19, and they also won Twenty20 Cups in 2012-13 and 2014-15. Constant source of players for national team.

4. University of Canberra Capitals

The most successful basketball team of the 21st century. Ascent came on the back of the emergence of one of Australia’s best hoops exports, Lauren Jackson, and legendary coach Carrie Graf. The nine-time WNBL champions from 11 grand final appearances have won seven of those titles since 2003. The club has featured some of Australia’s top talent in Jackson, Tully Bevilaqua, Jenny Cheesman, Lucille Bailie, Shelley Sandie, Abby Bishop and Suzy Backtovic.

5. Geelong

The Cats are the epitome of consistency in excellence. They have won three flags from their five grand final appearances since 2003, and in that time they have missed the finals just three times – by far the best record of any AFL side. This golden period for the Cats also produced club greats such as Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Joel Selwood and Cameron Ling.