OFFICIAL Bellamy extends contract with Melbourne Storm

[1910]

Lets not get carried away here, Bellamy wasn't inheriting the South Queensland Crushers, Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls/Chargers or an early version of the North Queensland Cowboys, Canberra Raiders, Newcastle Knights or Illwarra Steelers outfit that were basically there to make up the numbers for a long period of their early existence, he was inheriting a quality squad and side that between 1998 and 2002 the worst the Storm finished was 10th(9th the year before, not exactly far off the pace from a finals appearance) and 3 out of 5 years of finals appearances during that period including a premiership. Players of 2003 include Marcus Bai, Steve Bell, Matt Geyer, Scott Hill, Ryan Hoffman, Rodney Howe, Dallas Johnson, Antonio Kaufusi, Stephen Kearney, Robbie Kearns, David Kidwell, Matt King, Andrew McFadden, Aaron Moule, Matt Orford, Kirk Reynoldson, Robbie Ross, Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, a roster with a good mixture of experience rep and first graders and promising up and coming young players many of the sides I mentioned early would have killed for in the early stages of their existence. He had a job to do but that is still a good base to work from.

if two guys gets sacked and you're not making the finals something isn't right is it? Makes it more a shambles if those players are costing you coaches and finals spots.

Murray replaced Anderson then 18 months later sacked, Swain left over a falling out, Kearns was sacked as captain.

Place was a mess.

 

[GCBRONCO]

if two guys gets sacked and you're not making the finals something isn't right is it? Makes it more a shambles if those players are costing you coaches and finals spots.

I'm not saying they were doing a great job mate and there weren't issues, but it was far from a trainwreck.

 

[Dexter]

Having watched both pressers, my thoughts:

- Broncos board decides to approach Bellamy before he accepts an offer from the Storm.
- Storm tables offer to Bellamy.
- White flies to Melbourne for a conversation with Bellamy (they talked footy apparently, says Bellamy :rolleyes:)
- Wayne finds out (either from the Board and White transparently, or from a leak), triggering a discussion with White and/or Board.
- Someone leaks all of this to the press, forcing everyone to front cameras and mikes.
- Strategy is agreed between all involved about what to tell press.
- Bennett clings to his contract and insists he will coach in 2019 and possibly beyond. However, he leaves a huge gate open to retiring at the end of this season for "health reasons". Of course, a massive multi-year offer from a rival club would also do the trick.
- Bellamy confirms talks, albeit no formal offer from the Broncos.
- Bellamy delays decision for at least a week, when the Storm has a bye, and avoids any question which would indicate which way he is swaying. He also indicates he wants to have a frank discussion with Wayne.
- Bellamy doesn't deny possibility of a sabbatical next season, showing flexibility and putting the ball firmly in Wayne's court, who will have a hard time denying the hypocrisy of forcing his overstay at the Broncos, especially after the whole "Griffin gate".

This is not going away any time soon...

Who had the most to gain from a leak? Melbourne IMO. So I think Melbourne leaked the story in an effort to keep Bellamy.

Crystal ball. Trent Robinson should be shitting himself. Uncle Nick has had 1 go at signing WB and they want a title yesterday hence why they shafted Pearce to sign Cronk.

WB to Chooks is my predction.

 

[1910]

I'm not saying they were doing a great job mate and there weren't issues, but it was far from a trainwreck.

Three coaches from round 8 2001 to end of 2002 season- if that isn't a train wreck then the train is sliding badly and an act of God it's on the tracks.

 

[GCBRONCO]

Three coaches from round 8 2001 to end of 2002 season- if that isn't a train wreck then the train is sliding badly and an act of God it's on the tracks.

One of those coaches who won them their first premiership also went on to take his next club to a game within the Grand Final in 2002.

9th and 10th with a decent roster isn't exactly a nightmare of a job to turn things around.

1910 I'm not dismissing Bellamy did a good job taking over and getting them to where they are today, hell I'm not dismissing him as future coach of the Broncos at Bennett's expense and that is coming from a hardcore Bennett fan.

 

[Super Freak]

Who had the most to gain from a leak? Melbourne IMO. So I think Melbourne leaked the story in an effort to keep Bellamy.

Crystal ball. Trent Robinson should be shitting himself. Uncle Nick has had 1 go at signing WB and they want a title yesterday hence why they shafted Pearce to sign Cronk.

WB to Chooks is my predction.

I'm not sure the Roosters will want anything to do with Wayne Bennett after what he did to them.

 

[Porthoz]

Craig Bellamy addresses speculation he will coach the Broncos

CRAIG Bellamy has addressed speculation he will leave Melbourne to coach Brisbane, saying he has met with the Broncos but is yet to receive a formal offer from the club.
Brisbane has approached Bellamy about joining the club to replace Wayne Bennett, who is contracted until the end of 2019. Bellamy, who comes off contract at Melbourne this season, is considering a three-year offer worth nearly $4 million to stay with the defending premiers.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday afternoon, Bellamy denied reports the Queensland club had tabled him an offer worth $5.4 million over four years — a report Brisbane CEO Paul White also shut down earlier on Wednesday.
“I haven’t been made an offer from Brisbane. I did sit down with Paul White,” Bellamy said.
“I had a little chat with Paul White about footy, footy departments and things like that.”
Bellamy said he is still weighing up the Storm’s three-year deal but would not be rushed into making a decision about his future.
“The Storm offer has been there for a couple of weeks but I haven’t had much time to give it much thought,” he said.
“There’s a whole heap of things to go through. It’s not just the dollar signs. I need to make sure I’m very clear in what I’m going to do.
“I’d rather the decision sooner rather than later but I’m not going to say I’ll do it in the next few days to get you and the cameras to stop following me.”
Bellamy admitted he was disappointed the story about a possible move up north had been leaked and maintained there was a “falseness” to reports the Broncos had put up an offer with a dollar figure attached to it.
“There is some falseness to it without a doubt, to the whole story,” Bellamy said.
“I could say I’m disappointed probably ... but having said that our game is famous for things getting out. Nothing stays secret for long so I probably should have expected it.”

The 58-year-old said the offer from Melbourne arrived roughly two-and-a-half weeks ago, around the time he first sat down with White, but the Victorian club hasn’t given him a deadline to respond to the lucrative contract extension.
Bellamy said he hasn’t had much time to consider the deal but will mull it over next week.
“When I sit down and give it some thought I’ll think about what’s best for me, what’s best for my family and what’s best for the footy club,” Bellamy said.
“Our last three weeks has been really hectic. I haven’t been able to give it the time it needs to make a decision.
“These sort of decisions are always hard.”
Bennett and White on Wednesday were adamant the master coach will still be in charge at Red Hill next year, raising the possibility Bellamy would need to take a 12-month break from coaching before taking the top job in Brisbane.
The respected Storm mentor remained open to the possibility of taking a one-year sabbatical but said he would either accept Melbourne’s offer or walk away from the club.
“I don’t think the Storm are going to sign me up for one year so if I do move it will be at the end of this year,” Bellamy said.
“I’ve never had a year off. You could look at it in two ways. It could be refreshing and go to organisations and pick up on things. We usually do that for two weeks. Having a year off, the game evolves quickly so you could lose.
“The first thing I’ll be doing is deciding whether I stay on at Melbourne or not.
“Depending on what decision I come to there with the Melbourne offer I’ll decide what to do from there.”
Melbourne boss Dave Donaghy confirmed the Storm won’t offer the premiership-winning coach a one-year deal if he’s going to leave for Brisbane afterwards.

Donaghy told SEN radio the Storm wouldn’t consider retaining Bellamy for just one year to fill the gap before he headed to the Broncos in 2020. Donaghy made it clear that if Bellamy didn’t want the three-year deal they would look elsewhere for a coach who did.
“We’re not in the business of short-term planning,” Donaghy said. “We’ve made a three-year offer to our coach and that was off the back of a discussion with the coach.
“There’s lot of confidence in our football club in terms of what we offer and we’re not in the business of being someone else’s feeder team.”
The chief executive said the Storm had given Bellamy a “significant” three-year offer around a month ago and the deal had no time constraints. He said that despite the big Broncos offer he was “still optimistic” it would be accepted.
“He knows how we feel about him ... it goes without saying he’s the best coach in the game and I think the offer reflects that and we’d like to see him stay so he’s got a decision to make,” Donaghy said.
“We haven’t set one (a deadline for him to sign).
“For us it’s a confidence thing — we’re a confident organisation; we’re confident with what we do the structure, system, and environment and the people and Craig leads those people in the football department.
“It’s a wonderful system around him and I know he sees that.”
Donaghy said they had a succession plan in place for Bellamy but pointed out that it was normal business practice and his board would also have one for him. Donaghy said as well as the ongoing success of his club he believed Bellamy would be enticed to stay due to the young talent in the playing ranks and benefits of avoiding the constant NRL spotlight by being in Melbourne.

 

[Super Freak]

if two guys gets sacked and you're not making the finals something isn't right is it? Makes it more a shambles if those players are costing you coaches and finals spots.

Murray replaced Anderson then 18 months later sacked, Swain left over a falling out, Kearns was sacked as captain.

Place was a mess.

It says to me the issue was coaching.

It doesn't necessarily mean the club is a trainwreck.

 

[Accept]

I'm not sure the Roosters will want anything to do with Wayne Bennett after what he did to them.

That is water under the bridge considering it was twelve years ago. The Broncos have the same attitude towards Bellamy despite his very shady past.

 

[Super Freak]

That is water under the bridge considering it was twelve years ago. The Broncos have the same attitude towards Bellamy despite his very shady past.

They are a club that hold grudges.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

I've been critical of his decisions for a while but I'm really starting to outright dislike him. If he just came out and said something like:
"The club have decided to pursue him. I'm disappointed but I understand it's a business and I will continue to do the best I can as long as I'm here."
A lot of people, including myself, would have been 100% behind him. But no, it had to be:
"I want to stay here and I feel I still have a lot to offer but just in case my health takes a turn for the worse, I suggested the club pursue Bellamy about a month ago." (Long after the rumors the club was pursuing him surfaced.)

The guys ego is massive!

Cool. Thanks for stopping by.
Was a very honest and humble presser actually. He insisted the talks with Bellamy.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

No shit mate, pretty easy to say that after the press conferences. That is what a thought prior to today’s events. At least I made a call, it would be pretty boring if everyone were hindsight heroes like you.

No. Bullshit. Everyone made a call and you called the media liars and even said "guarantee it" you can sit around and call everything the media write is bullshit or you can have a brain and listen to what they say, take it in and decide how good you think the Intel is. Most of the time these guys are getting good info.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

Cool. Thanks for stopping by.
Was a very honest and humble presser actually. He insisted the talks with Bellamy. You're welcome to **** off now

You really think Wayne insisted on the talks with Bellamy?

 

[Dexter]

No shit mate, pretty easy to say that after the press conferences. That is what a thought prior to today’s events. At least I made a call, it would be pretty boring if everyone were hindsight heroes like you.

I like the fact you make calls, makes the place interesting. :superhappythumbsup:

 

[winslow_wong]

Nek minnit Bellamy signs a 4 year deal with the storm or retires.

 

[Marty Deutschmann]

You really think Wayne insisted on the talks with Bellamy?

Yeah maybe. I think it is entirely possible.
The way he mentioned his health a couple of times means something might be up in that department.. there could be something that popped up at a recent checkup. It is very plausible.
He wants to keep coaching but knows Bellamy is too good for the club not to target. It serves his legacy to appoint Bellamy and help him take the Broncos into the future and make us the premier club of the NRL again

 

[Super Freak]

I think Wayne won't coach another club. I think he might take another path as a model.

 

[pagey]

Am still not any wiser to this situation and can see it being a constant talking point until something happens.
Wayne will coach his 800th game tomorrow night and i can't see it taking priority over this , maybe he is ok with it but a bit of gratitude from the nrl would be nice.