Star pupils Cameron Smith and Billy Slater have presented former caretaker Craig Bellamy with the game ball after Melbourne held on to win over South Sydney in his 500th NRL game as coach.
After coaching the Storm to a nail-biting 15-14 victory at AAMI Park, Bellamy addressed the stadium describing the match as “one hell of a game”.
Thanking Rabbitohs’ coach Jason Demetriou and his side, and the crowd, Bellamy also acknowledged the support he has received from his family over his 19 year career.
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With his wife, son, daughter and grandchildren in attendance, Bellamy was also surprised with the presence of his sister, Gail.
“I think Gail’s probably been to about three NRL games in her life – about three of the grand finals – so it’s great for to come down and take the effort, I really appreciate it,” he said.
Bellamy finished by thanking everyone at the Melbourne Storm.
Referring to his playing group, Bellamy said: “You guys, you have made it a really special night tonight”.
“But I’d just like to thank you guys for really hanging in [there], you’re a really good bunch of guys to coach. We have a bit of fun, we do a bit of work, so thanks a lot for all your support and hopefully we can keep going this year.”
With the milestone match, Bellamy joins a modest group of coaching elites as only the fourth person to achieve the feat in Australian rugby league history.
Speaking on Nine’s broadcast ahead of the match, Smith – who retired last year after playing his entire career at Melbourne – was asked what sets Bellamy apart from other coaches.
“I think just his ability to stay at the top for such a long period of time, like he’s 20 years in – 500 games tonight – he’s the fourth coach to do it in our game’s history but in those years he’s never, ever waivered,” he said.
Under Bellamy’s tutelage the Storm have won three premierships, played in an astonishing eight NRL grand finals and finished in the top-eight on 18 occasions.
Individually, Bellamy has also been awarded the Dally M Coach of the Year six times and maintains a winning ratio of 70.1 per cent.
It’s these unrivalled stats that make Bellamy the “greatest coach of the modern era”, according to Smith.
Known for his intense displays of passion in the commentary box, Smith described the lighthearted man outside of league.
“I’d love more people to see the bloke away from footy, and particularly in the 80 minutes, that’s how he carries on in the 80 minutes and he’s all hard on the sleeve because it means so much to him and he wants his players to be the very best they can be,” he said.
“He is one of the most relaxed blokes getting around, he loves his players, he wants the very best for them and their families and, you know, he’s loyal to a fault so I really hope tonight is special for him.”
Andrew Johns also paid tribute to Bellamy.
“The one thing that tells me that he’s an incredible leader is, you watch him in the grandstand or the coaches box and the players see that, you know they’ve seen it 100 times, they’ve watched games, they’ve seen him do it, but they go out there, the players, and they back themselves, they throw risky passes and its like they’re not really worried about what his reaction is going to be,” he said.
“He has this ability to go mad, but then the players go out there and back themselves all the time.”
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