Craig Bellamy (rugby league)

Last updated

Craig Bellamy
Craig Bellamy (Melbourne Storm).jpg
Personal information
Born (1959-10-03) 3 October 1959 (age 64)
Portland, New South Wales, Australia
Height175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Playing information
Position Centre, Five-eighth, Lock
Club
YearsTeamPldTGFGP
1982–92 Canberra Raiders 1504600175
1991–92 Swinton Lions
Total1504600175
Coaching information
Club
YearsTeamGmsWDLW%
2002 Brisbane Broncos 210150
2003 Melbourne Storm 552383216769
Total554384216869
Representative
YearsTeamGmsWDLW%
200507 Country Origin 310233
200810 New South Wales 920722
Source: [1] [2] [3] [4]
As of 16 March 2024

Craig Bellamy (born 3 October 1959) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL), and a former professional rugby league footballer. He is known as one of the greatest coaches in NRL history.

Contents

He has previously coached the New South Wales State of Origin team. Bellamy started his coaching career as assistant coach to Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos. He also writes a column for The Australian . [5]

Bellamy played his entire NSWRL premiership career with the Canberra Raiders during the 1980s, and 1990s. In Canberra he played under the coaches Don Furner (1982–87), Wayne Bennett (1987), and Tim Sheens (1988–92). Injury midway through the 1987 season saw Bellamy miss the Raiders charge to their first ever Grand Final appearance which resulted in an 18–8 loss to the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles. Bellamy played from the bench in Canberra's 18–14 win over Penrith in the 1990 Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium.

After a coaching apprenticeship as Wayne Bennett's assistant at the Brisbane Broncos, which included a win over the Wests Tigers with the "Baby Broncos" when Bennett and the teams stars were away on State of Origin duty. Bellamy was appointed head coach of the Melbourne Storm for the 2003 NRL season. There he has achieved great success; winning the 2007 Grand Final over Manly and the 2009 Grand Final over Parramatta, though both of these were later stripped due to extensive salary cap breaches. He also led the Storm to the minor premiership in 2011, and won his first legitimate premiership as a coach in 2012 when the Storm defeated the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. He was the coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team until he was sacked in 2010, the same year as the Storm's salary cap scandal, after three unrelenting seasons of disappointment which netted only two wins from nine matches.

Bellamy won his second recognised NRL premiership as coach with the Melbourne Storm after a dominant 2017 season in which the Storm lost only four games. In 2018 the Storm had a successful year making it to the 2018 NRL Grand Final before being beaten by the Sydney Roosters. He won his third NRL premiership with the Storm in 2020.

He has yet to coach a losing NRL season, maintaining a better than 50% win–loss ratio for each season he has coached. Melbourne have played finals football every year since Bellamy began coaching the side, with the sole exception of the 2010 NRL season where the club would have placed fifth on the ladder had they not been penalised for a salary cap breach. He has also never lost in round one of a season as coach. Bellamy's 22 seasons with Melbourne is the longest consecutive stint by a coach at a single club.

Background

Bellamy was born 3 October 1959 in Portland, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

He played his early junior football for Portland Colts. Bellamy also played for Oberon Tigers in the Country Rugby League as a teenager before moving to Macquarie United in the Newcastle Rugby League in 1979.[ citation needed ] [6]

The Canberra Raiders signed Bellamy in their début season, 1982. He played the majority of his career in the centres but was also used as a utility player, appearing at times as fullback, winger, five-eighth and lock. After the Raiders won the 1989 NSWRL season's Grand Final (which he wasn't selected for), Bellamy travelled with the Raiders to England for the 1989 World Club Challenge, but didn't play in the loss to Widnes at Old Trafford.

After winning the 1990 premiership with the Raiders, Bellamy spent 1991 with Turvey Park in Wagga Wagga as captain/coach in the Group 9 Competition, he was also the Riverina Rugby League Captain and also had a stint playing in England for Swinton, before returning to Canberra for one last year in 1992. [6]

Coaching career

1990s

In 1995, Bellamy coached the Canberra Raiders' President's Cup team to a premiership win. [7] In 1998 he became performance co-ordinator and assistant coach to Wayne Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos. That year they won the 1998 NRL Grand final.

2000s

In 2002, when Broncos' head coach Wayne Bennett was on State of Origin duty with the Queensland Maroons, Bellamy gained NRL experience as a head coach. Forced to field a team full of young players due to the regular side's representative commitments, the 'Baby Broncos' upset the Wests Tigers. The Tigers were a leading candidate to sign Bellamy as their coach for the 2003 season, although he ultimately joined Melbourne after Mark Murray was sacked. In his third season as an NRL coach with the Storm, Bellamy started coaching the Country Origin team with a loss in 2005. His work with Wayne Bennett extended to international level when he was appointed assistant to Bennett for the Australian Test team during the 2005 Rugby League Tri-Nations tournament, and was often seen 'running the water' to players on the field. Bellamy was considered a leading candidate to coach the Queensland Maroons in 2006, but his selection was opposed by many former players, including Arthur Beetson,[ citation needed ] and was ultimately vetoed due to the fact he was a New South Welshman. He coached New South Wales Country to victory and his club, Melbourne won the 2006 minor premiership and reached the 2006 National Rugby League grand final, but finished as runners-up to former mentor Bennett's Brisbane Broncos. In the post season Bellamy continued as Kangaroos assistant coach, now under Ricky Stuart for the 2006 Tri Nations series. The following season Country lost but the Storm were minor premiers and reached the 2007 NRL grand final, in which they defeated the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 34–8 to become premiers. They were however later stripped of the title by the NRL.

In April, 2008, Bellamy signed a five-year contract extension through to 2013 with Melbourne despite interest from the Brisbane Broncos. [8] This signing meant that Bellamy would become the first 10-year coach in the Storm's history. After the New South Wales Blues' poor showing in the 2007 State of Origin series, Bellamy was appointed as coach for the 2008 series. [9] In his first series in charge of NSW, the Blues lost to Mal Meninga's Maroons 2 – 1. The second and third series have also resulted in series losses, therefore posing serious questions on Bellamy's abilities to coach at representative level.

During the finals campaign of the 2008 NRL season, Bellamy cost his club $50,000 after he was fined for disclosing scathing remarks and views on the NRL's decision to suspend his side's captain and goal-kicker, Cameron Smith over a controversial "grapple tackle" on Brisbane's Sam Thaiday. Bellamy claimed that the administration was corrupt and that bookkeepers already knew that Smith would be denied the opportunity to play for the rest of the season and furthermore along with Melbourne's CEO questioned the NRL's integrity in their opting to side-line Smith and not others who were guilty of committing similar tackles. This drew threats of legal action from the members of the NRL Judiciary.

Bellamy coached Melbourne to their 3rd successive NRL grand final, but could not repeat the feats of the previous year as his side suffered an enormous 40–0 defeat to Manly. [10]

2009 marked the fourth consecutive year Melbourne played in the grand final under Bellamy. Melbourne also reached the top four on the NRL ladder for the fourth consecutive year. Craig Bellamy coached Melbourne in their grand final win in 2009 only to be stripped of the title due to breaching the salary cap. [11]

Bellamy was named coach of the year at the 2009 RLIF awards. [12]

2010s

Bellamy in 2010 Cbellamy.jpg
Bellamy in 2010

Bellamy left as Blues coach after the 2010 State of Origin series which resulted in a 3-0 whitewash, the first in Origin and also the Blues' first since 2000. Ricky Stuart was later named his successor. So far the Storm had not missed the finals in Bellamy's seven seasons at the helm with the exception of 2010 when they were not allowed to earn any points due to their 2009 salary cap breach. Had they been allowed to accumulate points however they would have made the top 8 again. He took them to the minor premiership in 2011, just narrowly missing out on a spot in the grand final to a loss in the preliminary final to the New Zealand Warriors. He went one better in 2012, winning the 2012 NRL grand final against Canterbury 14–4. That year he also received the Rugby League International Federation's coach of the year award for the second time. [13]

Despite speculation he would move to the Warriors or St George-Illawarra as coach, he signed a new three-year deal with Melbourne Storm in early 2013. [14] He coached the team to victory in the 2013 World Club Challenge over Leeds, earning the title of world champions. Late in the 2013 NRL season during an interview with Paul Vautin for Channel 9's "The Footy show", it was revealed that Bellamy was an electrician by trade, though downplayed it by saying that he was "not a very good one." Also during 2013 Bellamy's book, Home Truths: On Life, Leadership, Adversity, Success and Failure was published. [15]

On 16 May 2014 Bellamy reached a milestone, and created a new club record, of having coached the Melbourne Storm for 300 games. [16]

On 4 March 2016, Bellamy extended his stay as Melbourne Storm coach to the end of 2018. [17] [18]

2020s

Craig Bellamy had coached the Melbourne Storm to yet another NRL Premiership title in 2020, defeating the Penrith Panthers 26–20. This was despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had his players living away from home for five months straight. [19]

Bellamy's acknowledged genius as a coach

Stories are legion of competent but mediocre players realising potential they never dreamed they had playing for the Melbourne Storm, and then getting lucrative offers to transfer to other clubs. Commentator Paul Kent describes how Bellamy transforms "journeymen footballers into accomplished players.". [20]

Coach, commentator and rugby league administrator Phil Gould stated:

Melbourne’s military-like , mechanical , meticulous and clinical form of rugby league excellence, not only wins a lot of games; it stands up under pressure; it teaches individuals within the team to stand up; it makes good players of average players; great players of good players ; it turns great players into champions . Basically, it produces championship teams. [21]

Statistics

Craig Bellamy – coaching results by season [22] [23]
YearTeamGamesWinsDrawsLossesWin %Notes
2002 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 210150%Coached two games while Wayne Bennett was on Origin duty
2003 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 261601062%Lost 2003 NRL Semi Final against Canterbury Bulldogs
2004 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 261401254%Lost 2004 NRL Semi Final against Canterbury Bulldogs
2005 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 261401254%Lost 2005 NRL Semi Final against North Queensland Cowboys
2006 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27220581%Lost 2006 NRL Grand Final against Brisbane Broncos
2007* Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27240389%Won 2007 NRL Grand Final against Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
2008 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 28190968%Lost 2008 NRL Grand Final against Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
2009* Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27171965%Won 2009 NRL Grand Final against Parramatta Eels
2010 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 241401058%Finished 16th (out of 16) due to penalties from long-term salary cap breaches
2011 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 26200677%Lost 2011 NRL Preliminary Final against New Zealand Warriors
2012^ Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27200774%Won 2012 NRL Grand Final against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
2013 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 26161964%Lost 2013 NRL Semi Final against Newcastle Knights
2014 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 251401156%Knocked out in Elimination final match by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
2015 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 261501158%Lost 2015 NRL Preliminary final against North Queensland Cowboys
2016 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27210678%Lost 2016 NRL Grand Final against Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
2017^ Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27230485%Won 2017 NRL Grand Final against North Queensland Cowboys
2018 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27180967%Lost 2018 NRL Grand Final against Sydney Roosters
2019 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 27210678%Lost 2019 Preliminary Final against Sydney Roosters
2020^ Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 23180578%Won 2020 NRL Grand Final against Penrith Panthers
2021 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 26220485%Lost 2021 Preliminary Final against Penrith Panthers
2022 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 251501060%Knocked out in Elimination final match by Canberra Raiders
2023 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 271701062%lost 2023 NRL Preliminary Final match by Penrith Panthers
Career551382216769.3%
Key
^Club won NRL Premiership
*Club stripped of NRL Premiership

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brisbane Broncos</span> Australian rugby league football club

The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos currently compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club has won six premierships, including two New South Wales Rugby League premierships, a Super League premiership and three NRL premierships. The Broncos have won two World Club Challenges, and four minor premierships in multiple competitions. Prior to 2015, Brisbane had never been defeated in a grand final, and since 1991, the club has failed to qualify for the finals five times. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the National Rugby League since it began in 1998, winning three premierships. The club is one of the most successful clubs in the history of rugby league, having won 59.9% of games played since its induction in 1988, second only to Melbourne Storm with 67.3%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayne Bennett (rugby league)</span> Australian rugby league coach and former footballer

Wayne James Bennett, also known by the nickname "Benny", is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the Dolphins in the National Rugby League (NRL), and has previously coached the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Brisbane Broncos, the Newcastle Knights, the St George Illawarra Dragons, the Canberra Raiders, the Queensland Maroons State of Origin team, the NRL All Stars and the Australian Kangaroos national team as well as the England and Great Britain national teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Storm</span> Australian rugby league football club

The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. The Storm were originally a Super League initiative, created in 1997 during the Super League war, however, following the Super League collapse, the team became a part of the newly formed, united competition. The club play their home games at AAMI Park. The Storm have won four premierships since their inception, in 1999, 2012, 2017 and 2020, and have contested several more grand finals. They won the 2007 and 2009 grand finals, but were stripped of those premierships following salary cap breaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenn Lazarus</span> Australian rugby league footballer and coach, and politician

Glenn Patrick Lazarus is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative prop, Lazarus won premierships with the Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Melbourne Storm, who he also captained. He is the only player in the history of the game to win grand finals with three separate clubs, with the grand final wins also being the first for each club. After his retirement from football he assisted several NRL clubs in a coaching capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun Berrigan</span> Australia international rugby league footballer

Shaun Berrigan is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a hooker, centre, halfback and five-eighth in the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.

Luke Priddis is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative hooker, he played club football in the National Rugby League for the Canberra Raiders, Brisbane Broncos and Penrith Panthers and, finally, the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

The 2006 NRL season was the 99th season of professional rugby league football in Australia and the ninth run by the National Rugby League. The lineup of teams remained unchanged from the previous year, with fifteen clubs competing for the 2006 Telstra Premiership. Throughout the 26 rounds of the regular season ten teams from New South Wales, two from Queensland and one each from Victoria, the ACT and New Zealand competed for the minor premiership. Eight of these teams qualified for the four-week finals series, with the Brisbane Broncos eventual victors over the Melbourne Storm in the grand final. Melbourne finished the regular season first so were awarded the minor premiership, but this was later revoked due to the Melbourne Storm salary cap breach.

Kevin David Walters is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player, who has been the head coach of the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Brisbane Broncos season</span>

The 2006 Brisbane Broncos season was the nineteenth in the club's history. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Darren Lockyer, they won the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season in 3rd place before going on to defeat the first-placed Melbourne Storm in the 2006 NRL Grand Final.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Belcher</span> Australia international rugby league footballer & broadcaster

Gary Belcher is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former player. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin representative, he played club football in the Brisbane Rugby League premiership for the Souths Magpies and in the NSWRL Premiership for the Canberra Raiders. He also played in England for Castleford. Belcher's position of choice was fullback, though he began his career in the centres.

The 1998 Brisbane Broncos season was the eleventh in the history of Brisbane's National Rugby League premiership team, the Brisbane Broncos. Coached by Wayne Bennett and captained by Allan Langer, they participated in the newly formed National Rugby League's 1998 premiership and posted their three biggest ever wins in rounds 5, 7 and 15 before finishing the regular season as minor premiers. The Broncos then won the 1998 NRL Grand Final, capturing their fourth premiership in seven seasons.

The history of the Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club stretches back from their inception in the mid-1980s to the present day. They were introduced to the NSWRL's Winfield Cup premiership in 1988, taking the competition by storm in winning their first six games. The Broncos participated in 18 consecutive finals series from 1992–2009, winning premierships six times, including the 1992 and 1993 NSWRL premierships, the Superleague premiership in 1997 and then the 1998, 2000 and 2006 National Rugby League premierships.

The 2008 National Rugby League season consisted of 26 weekly regular season rounds, starting on 14 March, followed by four weeks of play-offs, culminating in a Grand Final on 5 October.

The 2008 Melbourne Storm season was the 11th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2008 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season as minor premiers before reaching the grand final in which they were beaten by the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 40–0, the largest margin in grand final history. The minor premiership won by the Storm in 2008 was later stripped by the NRL in 2010 when it was revealed the club had been in breach of salary cap rules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Seibold</span> Germany international rugby league footballer and coach

Anthony Seibold is an Australian rugby union and rugby league coach, and former rugby league player. He is currently defence coach with the England national rugby union team, and head coach for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles of the National Rugby League (NRL).

The 2009 Melbourne Storm season was the 12th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2009 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 4th out of 16 teams. They then progressed to their fourth consecutive grand final, this time to be played against the Parramatta Eels and won, claiming their second premiership in three seasons, a title later stripped in 2010 after being found guilty of salary cap breaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 NRL Grand Final</span> Australian rugby league championship match

The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, 1 October. The 2006 grand final was the first ever to feature teams which were both from cities outside the borders of New South Wales, in this case the capitals of Queensland and Victoria, yet was played at the traditional venue of Sydney's Telstra Stadium. It was the first time the two sides had met in a grand final. They had played each other twice during the 2006 regular season, with Melbourne winning both times. The Melbourne side went into the grand final as heavy favorites, having won the minor premiership. Both teams were looking to keep their perfect grand final records intact: Brisbane with 5/5 and the Melbourne side with 1/1 heading into the game.

The 2012 Melbourne Storm season was the club's 15th NRL season. Coached by Craig Bellamy and captained by Cameron Smith, they competed in and won the NRL's 2012 Telstra Premiership. The first nine weeks of the season were very successful, with the club winning all games for what was at the time their best start to a season. From round 10 to round 21 they won only three games and lost seven, including a five-game losing streak between rounds 16 and 21, their second worst ever. From round 22 onward they recovered their winning form and finished the regular season with five straight wins, finishing in second place. The Storm then went on to defeat South Sydney and Manly in the finals series before going on to face minor premiers, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the 2012 NRL Grand Final, winning 14–4 to claim the Premiership.

The 2003 Melbourne Storm season was the 6th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership and finished the regular season 5th out of 15 teams, before reaching the semi-final where they were knocked out by Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. It was Craig Bellamy's first season as head coach of the club.

The 2016 Melbourne Storm season was the 19th in the club's history, they competed in the 2016 NRL season and were coached by Craig Bellamy, coaching for his 14th consecutive season during which he coached his 350th Game. Melbourne Storm were also captained in 2016 by Cameron Smith, who was the sole captain for the team since 2008 making this his 9th consecutive season. In the pre-season the Storm competed in the 2016 Auckland Nines tournament, reaching the semi-finals.

References

  1. RLP
  2. Rugby League Project Coaches
  3. "Rugby League Tables - Craig Bellamy" . Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  4. NRL Stats [ permanent dead link ]
  5. Bellamy, Craig (24 September 2011). "Darren Lockyer story reflects code's steady growth". The Australian . Retrieved 23 September 2011.
  6. 1 2 "Rugby League Project - Craig Bellamy". Rugby League Project.
  7. Craig Bellamy Archived 9 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine at yesterdayshero.com.au
  8. Stathi Paxinos (18 April 2008). "Bellamy sticks with Melbourne". Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  9. Carr, Geoff (2007). "Australian Rugby Football League Annual Report 2007" (PDF). Australian Rugby League Limited. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  10. "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 5 October 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
  11. "Storm v Eels Grand Final 2009 - NRL Match Result Statistics - NRL.com". Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
  12. Mascord, Steve; NZPA (10 November 2009). "NZRL coffers to benefit from early exit". The New Zealand Herald. New Zealand: APN Holdings NZ Limited. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
  13. "Awards". rlif.com. Rugby League International Federation . Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  14. "Coach Craig Bellamy To Sign New Contract With Melbourne Storm". The Daily Telegraph.[ dead link ]
  15. Craig Bellamy with Matt Marshall (2013). Home Truths: On Life, Leadership, Adversity, Success and Failure. true: Penguin.
  16. "Cooper Cronk notches up 250 games with Melbourne Storm". TV NZ. 31 August 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  17. "Purple is in my blood: Bellamy". Melbourne Storm. Retrieved 5 March 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  18. "Master coach to continue legacy". Melbourne Storm. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  19. McDonald, Margie (24 October 2020). "The private pain beneath Bellamy's tough exterior". NRL.com. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  20. Kent, Paul; Herald Sun, 23 July 2012, p.78
  21. Gould, Phil;Even stevens in a clash of the titans, The Age, Melbourne.24 September 2012
  22. "Rugby League Tables". Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  23. "Craig Bellamy - Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 13 September 2022.

Sources

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Graham Murray
2006–2007
Coach
New South Wales colours.svg
New South Wales

2008–2010
Succeeded by
Ricky Stuart
2011–2012
Preceded by
Mark Murray
2001–2002
Coach
Melbourne colours.svg
Melbourne Storm

2003–present
Succeeded by
Incumbent