Steely Storm coach not swayed by grand final history
Melissa Woods |
While he’s making history, leading Melbourne into an 11th NRL grand final, don’t expect coach Craig Bellamy to get soppy and sentimental about it.
Bellamy will overtake South Sydney mentor Wayne Bennett for the most NRL grand finals, racking up the tally with an incredible success rate since he took over the Storm in 2003.
Turning 65 this week, Bellamy has threatened that his 24th year at the helm, in 2027, will be his last.
Given his track record, there’s every chance Melbourne will make the title decider again next year, but win or lose, it won’t be something that crosses the master coach’s mind come Sunday.
His son and assistant coach Aaron Bellamy said his father preferred to live in the moment.
“No, he doesn’t look too far ahead,” Aaron told AAP.
“He’s probably not looking past today, just getting ready for tomorrow and then making sure we get our last training session right, and then that’ll give him the best chance to have a crack at it on Sunday.
“I don’t think he would be thinking ‘this could be my last grand final’, or ‘there could be another one next year’.”
Aaron said he hadn’t had a heart-to-heart with his father about his future, but he wasn’t convinced he would step back into a consultancy role with Melbourne or retire any time soon.
“I haven’t spoken to him about it, but I just don’t know what else he’d do, to be honest,” he said.
“He’s still putting as much effort in now as what he did when he started.
“I don’t know if he loves it as much as when he started, but he’s got a great relationship with all the players … they all get along, but then when it’s time to work, they all work together and try and get the best out of each day with each other so, yeah, I don’t know what he would do otherwise.”
What does put a major dent in the senior coach’s tough exterior are his four grandkids, spending plenty of time in Melbourne with Aaron’s three.
The kids can be seen on the sidelines at Storm home games learning how to be ball-kids, with Billy Slater’s son Jake showing them the way.
Bellamy revealed last month the youngest, Sonny, had made him a beaded bracelet and the team had won twice while he was wearing it, and lost the game he forgot to put it on.
“They had a grandparents’ day at kindergarten, so he made it for him,” Aaron said.
“They’re like kindred spirits, those two, they just annoy each other and they have fun together – they’re two peas in a pod.
“I’ll have to check he’s got the bracelet on.”
AAP
