Melbourne Are Just Awesome

I believe you can. They don't deserve full credit either, some of that comes down to club recruitment and the players themselves but at this level, players have to reach a whole new level and Bellamy helped each player achieve that.

In regards to Cronk, unlike Hunt, he wasn't a permanent fixture in the first grade side and spent a lot of times at Norths developing his game as a half.
 
Unfortunately I think this year storm will go back to back and possibly 3 in a row next year. Unless Broncos, Rabbitohs and Manly can pick up their act next year and really get it all together or they get an season ending injury to one of the big 3. I definitely think they have it in them to win 3 in a row. It's scary and depressing.
 
Bucking Beads said:
Can you really credit a coach for developing one of the greats of the game?? I think it is all down to junior recruitment. Whoever spotted Smith, Slater and GI deserve all the credit in the world. I'll give credit to Bellmay for Cronk though. He backed a kid who was playing off the bench as a hooker to be their halfback and he was right.
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In the same breath say a coach can't make a player great, then say Bellamy made Cronk.

Is the irrational hypocrisy and irrational hatred on BHQ for the Storm borne out of jealousy, anger, revenge... please tell me?

"Marge, remember that time I ate the fancy soap in the bathroom? Well that's ok, because you broke the salary cap"
 
He gets credit not all the credit but some credit. It blows me away how protective some people are over a team they claim not to support.
 
i suppose beads mustnt give a certain other coach any credit for developing players like lockyer, sailor, webcke, civoniceva, etc then either. cause that would be confusing if he did.

after thurston, cronk is the best halfback of the better part of the last decade. hes got the most premiership rings of any, and can probably have a few more by the end of his career. he'll go down as one of the all time great halfbacks.
 
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Morkel said:
No way is it irrelevant. Smith was a Titan until a miracle 11th hour increased offer by the Storm, which history has now told us was outside the cap. Take Smith out of the team and you get the '08 grand final (juiced Manly notwithstanding).

Smith, Cronk & Slater are basically worth a 12 point head-start on any other team that has legit retention. So what would any team do if they knew they had effectively a points head-start every game? Defence of course. 90% of what Melbourne do is defence. They only have to recruit and retain players on that basis. The 10% of attack is basically a controlled, manufactured game to advocate the use of Smith Cronk & Slater. That's why the majority of the Storm's discards are useless elsewhere. At the Storm they're simply a tool, they have a narrow pre-defined purpose.
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So really, the Storm's success comes down to Bellamy's well prepared game plan and coaching then?
 
Bucking Beads said:
I dont give Bennett much credit for Lockyer. Players like him would be greats under almost every coach.
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which is why some people dont give much credit to bennett for winning premierships with teams like the broncos teams of 1998/2000. they were absolutely chock full of those types of players, more so than melbourne has ever had.
 
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Anonymous person said:
which is why some people dont give much credit to bennett for winning premierships with teams like the broncos teams of 1998/2000. they were absolutely chock full of those types of players, more so than melbourne has ever had.
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Bennentt has won 3 premierships since 2000, Bellamy has one, credit what you want to credit but those are the facts not to mention one of those Bennett premierships was against an illegal 2006 Storm team which only magnifies the achievement.
 
how many *since* 2000? having trouble counting are you? and anyway, what does that have to do with what i said? those teams coached themselves in 1998/2000. winning in 2006 has no relevance to that.

btw in 2006 the storm werent a gigantic amount over the salary cap - about $300k from reports. hardly enough to magnify the broncos beating them. lets not forget the circumstances in which the broncos won either, referee help and all.
 
subsbligh said:
So really, the Storm's success comes down to Bellamy's well prepared game plan and coaching then?
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Bellamy is only doing what any other coach is doing (or should be) - advocating play towards the teams strengths. Unfortunately for everyone else, he has a head start because his team has strengths that every other team can't have because they've seemingly played by the rules. In effect, Bellamy is just like his team - he only has to be good at a very narrow scope of focus. Put him in charge of another team and I don't think he'd look like the mastercoach that everyone makes him out to be, unless of course he's given another 7-10 years to put the necessary rorts in place.

Bellamy is a coward and I wouldn't be surprised if he retires soon after the Big 3. He is such a sore loser that he puts things in place either legally or illegally to skew the odds in his favour. In fact his biggest success & strength is this - breaking the rules while making it appear that he's not. It's in every facet of his game. Most other teams spend their time pushing the boundaries of the rules. Bellamy breaks the rules and spends his time making it appear that he's not. Breaking the salary cap. Using defence numbers to visually conceal illegalities in the ruck. In fact, the only time we've seen a Bellamy-coached team in what you'd consider a fair fight was in Origin. His best game plan was simply to get the NSW runners to hold on to the Qlders jerseys in the ruck, making it appear as if the Qld tacklers are the ones holding the player down, and being rewarded with penalties. How long did he last when he realised he has almost zero scope for illegally skewing the odds?

Seems to me that supporters of the Storm & Bellamy are either just easily impressed and don't have the fortitude to look below the surface of what's happening, or the simply believe the end justifies the means. But a cheat's a cheat for me.
 
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