WITH every passing day they don't hear from him, the Dragons are realising what most of us already assume - that Craig Bellamy won't be leaving the Melbourne Storm.
It looms as euphoric news for the Storm that is crucial to the fickle existence of the premiers on the rugby league frontier of Melbourne. The bravest decision of all would have been for the 53-year-old coach to join St George Illawarra. In other words, to do as his former Broncos mentor Wayne Bennett did before him, and what Des Hasler did at the Bulldogs last season.
But when you consider what Bellamy would be leaving, it was a no-brainer. Throughout summer, the whispers had grown into a roar that Bellamy would be headed to St George Illawarra.
Chief executive Peter Doust had him in his sights well before the end of last season when the Storm clinched the premiership from Hasler's upstart Canterbury side.
Those close to the Dragons and even those who reckon they are close to Bellamy were adamant "the deal was done". Yeah, good. This is rugby league. Even when it's done it's not done. Then, about a fortnight ago, the coaching merry-go-round swung around. The so-called done deal was off and he would apparently finish his career in Melbourne. An announcement is likely to be made in the next few weeks, although negotiations between the Storm and Bellamy's manager John Fordham continued at the weekend and that suggests it's not done. Not done-done.
Bellamy made it clear in an interview with
The Daily Telegraph in grand final week that testing his coaching at another club - as was the case for Bennett when he joined the Dragons - would have no bearing on his decision. Refreshingly, he said money meant as much as anything, for this would be his last deal ahead of retirement.
Storm owner News Ltd - publisher of this newspaper - has ostensibly thrown the bank at him to retain him for another five years, knowing full well the club needs the best coach in the business. Doubtless, though, Bellamy would have considered it a significant risk to walk away from the best-resourced club in the NRL.
At about $12 million a year, the Storm spend more on their football than anyone else.
The Bulldogs spend about $11.2 million - an assurance Hasler squeezed out of them before his shock defection to Belmore from Manly.
In the era of strictly enforced and complicated salary caps, the areas of high performance and its platoons of specialist coaches are becoming the difference between the contenders and also-rans. To that end, the cashed-up Warriors apparently made such assurances to Bellamy, before he rejected their offer last year.
So what about the Dragons?
It is believed they spend about $9.5 million on football expenditure, but with two ailing leagues clubs at Kogarah and Wollongong it is uncertain how deep their pockets will be in the future. They might've had enough to secure Bellamy, but would they have had enough to resource him? And that's a shame, in soap opera terms.
Craig Bellamy has nothing to prove. In the past two seasons, he took a side and club ravaged by the salary cap scandal and somehow won the grand final. He is the best coach in the competition ... but how will he be considered when it is all over should he stay down in Melbourne?
He won the competition last year with a spare-parts team of unwanted misfits and footballers other clubs considered best suited to country footy. But it was won with possibly the best the hooker of all time in Cameron Smith, a player who could possibly become the best fullback of all time in Billy Slater, and the best halfback going around in Cooper Cronk.
How many more can he win? And how long before the Dragons will challenge for another?
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...-melbourne-storm/story-e6frexnr-1226559523122
