Melbourne Storm confident Craig Bellamy will sign a new deal
Melbourne chairman and owner Bart Campbell has spoken of his confidence that Craig Bellamy will sign a new deal and outlined plans to step up talks with the coach once the Storm have completed their Anzac Day commitments.
Campbell, in Brisbane yesterday for the Storm’s game against the Broncos, was as surprised as anyone by reports their opponents could appoint Bellamy as a replacement for Wayne Bennett.
The reasons for Campbell’s bemusement are twofold: the Storm are already in talks with Bellamy and remain optimistic he will sign a long-term deal to remain at club and; he found it hard to believe the Broncos could drop the seven-time premiership winner.
Regardless, the Storm boss plans to end any speculation over his own coach’s future as quickly as possible by convincing Bellamy to remain in Melbourne.
“The facts are that we are having ongoing conversations with Craig,” Campbell said. “We would love him to stay and we’re hopeful he will stay. We have two tough games within a five-day turnaround, the Brisbane game and Anzac Day.
“Hopefully there will be a time for all of us to sit down after that and have a conversation on the way forward.”
Bellamy has been at the helm of the Storm for 16 years and has presided over more than 400 games. His win ratio is edging towards 70 per cent. He also has an affinity with the Broncos, having begun his coaching career as an assistant under Bennett at Brisbane.
There was a time when Bellamy was considered the heir apparent to Bennett, but circumstances have contrived to stop that.
Now the pair are being linked again, although circumstances surrounding the coaching legends would again suggest there are seemingly insurmountable hurdles to clear.
Bellamy is off contract at the end this season and Bennett has another year to run on his deal and it seems ridiculous to suggest he could be sacked.
The club would be also forced to carry any termination payment in their football cap, as well as the salary of his replacement. That would mean upwards of $2 million.
The other option floated would have Bellamy spending a year on the sidelines while Bennett saw out the final year of his contract. That would mean Bellamy forgoing more than $1m while he waited to fill Bennett’s shoes.
Campbell finds it difficult to accept the Broncos could cut Bennett before the coach himself decided his time was up.
First of all the Broncos are not going to fire Wayne Bennett. Let’s be clear about that given what he has done for the club. You don’t shoot Bambi.
“I have no doubt Wayne Bennett will see out his contract with the Broncos. The other reason for our bemusement is we have had positive discussions with Craig around his future.
“We have made it clear to him that he is a welcome part of the furniture and while economic details have not been discussed, the rhetoric is positive.
“The other source of bemusement is the timing of the speculation — two days before a game between us and Brisbane.”
Along with Cameron Smith, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, Bellamy has been the most influential figure at Melbourne over the past decade. Cronk joined the Sydney Roosters in the off-season. Slater is widely expected to retire at the end of this season and Smith is yet to announce his plans.
