Melbourne's success was built on more than just cap rorting
April 6, 2011
By Ben Ikin
Storm coach Craig Bellamy commands the respect and loyalty of his players.
Seeing the Melbourne Storm equal first on the NRL competition table after four rounds has reminded me how a quality organisational culture can reap great results. Many would have agreed with the punishment handed down by the NRL when the Storm were found to have rorted the salary cap, but not me. The stripping of the Storm's three minor premierships and two grand finals was ridiculous. It proved to me that those making the rules don't understand what is required to claim the ultimate prize on the first Sunday in October.
Many things need to go right for your team to win the NRL competition. None of them have a relationship to what you pay your players. I saw many a team in the post-Super League era spend ridiculous amounts of money to assemble a team of superstars and not achieve a skerrick of success.
So if big stars on big salaries don't win you grand finals, what does?
Top of the list is maintaining a healthy playing roster. The Melbourne Storm have been better at this than any team in the competition over the last five to seven years. Keeping your players on the field requires a diligent and scientific approach to training and recovery. Access to the best rehabilitation philosophies and facilities is where it starts, while commitment to injury prevention and performance recovery is where it finishes. You can have all the best science available to your coaches and players, but if they're not willing to embrace this part of the process, there's a fair chance your roster won't be full strength come finals time. In Melbourne they call it the Corvo touch.
I also believe that a culture built on work ethic is paramount. Like Wayne Bennett at the Broncos and later the Dragons, Craig Bellamy has fostered an ethos at the Melbourne Storm that's underpinned by hard work. No one trains harder than the Melbourne Storm. Ask the Parramatta Eels players who have just completed their first off season under former Storm assistant, Stephen Kearney. Nothing builds confidence in a young man more than the knowing he has done the work to earn his spot. Remember, fatigue makes cowards of us all.
Market intelligence is important for any business. Knowing what your competition is up to is good; knowing how you can exploit them is better. But analysing how the game is played and then figuring out how you can push into a “blue ocean” is powerful. Many criticised Craig Bellamy for introducing new wrestling techniques to gain a competitive advantage, but I thought it was pure genius. This is just one example of how the super coach showed his strategic brilliance to help the Melbourne Storm become the competition benchmark.
Great organisational cultures will ensure that your people are forever compelled to give their best. For a long time now, the gap between the best and worst of the Melbourne Storm's on-field performances has been minimal. This speaks volumes for the culture of discipline and accountability that has been created at the Storm. If you play rugby league for the Melbourne Storm, you bring nothing but your best, anything less is unacceptable.
Speak to anyone who has been at the Storm through the Craig Bellamy years and they will tell you they loved being there. Despite all the seemingly onerous aspects I have listed above, everyone at the Storm enjoys where they work. It probably starts with the fact that Craig Bellamy is a fantastic bloke, but I also reckon he's gone out of his way to attract other quality people to his organisation. Whenever I watch the Melbourne boys ply their trade, I can't help but think that it's a club I would have liked to play at.
I'm not defending the fact that the Storm stepped outside the bounds of the salary cap, but it should be known that it requires much more than illegal payments to star players to achieve sustained success in the NRL. Maybe you still believe the Storm are not worthy of the many trophies they won, but hopefully you now see how and why the Melbourne Storm will very quickly become a force yet again.
Source:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...ore-than-just-cap-rorting-20110406-1d4hx.html
