Short-term goals win out for Bellamy, Storm
Date February 12, 2013
Roy Masters
''It [the decision on his future] was becoming a distraction. I haven't been coaching as well as I should the last 10 days" ... Craig Bellamy.
Photo: Steve Holland
Craig Bellamy has opted for immediate short-term team success in Melbourne over guaranteed long-term personal security and stability with St George Illawarra.
The financial terms at both clubs were similar but Bellamy admitted ''the emotional rope [with the Melbourne players] is too hard to cut'', and on Monday he extended his Storm contract to the end of the 2016 season.
His signature - for about $1.6 million a season - will accelerate moves by a business consortium to purchase the club from News Ltd.
The business group consists of former New Zealanders, now living in London, with a background in theatrical productions and marketing.
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News Ltd is anxious to sell the club, whose price tag is zero, but after investing $70 million on the Storm since its inception in 1998, the media giant will insist the new owner can maintain the club's standard of excellence.
However, there will be a financial shortfall over the next few years between the Storm's expenses and income, despite an NRL subsidy of $4million a year and a share of a lucrative broadcasting contract.
One of Bellamy's concerns was that new private owners, traditionally reluctant to empty their own pockets, would cut resources.
At the Dragons, despite reduced trading at their licensed club at Carlton, money will always be found for the top-grade team.
So Bellamy was forced to balance the next two seasons at the Storm, working with a nucleus of brilliant players and a highly skilled football department, against the latter years when it will fall upon the coach to inform Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Ryan Hoffman that the club cannot meet their financial demands and they must retire or relocate.
With today's huge salaries, players tend to retire a year too late, rather than a year too early.
Ending the careers of players who bled for him will not sit well with Bellamy.
At the Dragons, he would have faced an immediate challenge without an organising halfback and experienced forwards but the St George Illawarra business community, particularly with WIN owner
Bruce Gordon involved, would have provided the resources for eventual long-term success.
One week ago, Bellamy admitted he was minutes away from calling his manager John Fordham and asking for the Dragons contract, after contract talks with Melbourne reached a stalemate.
He finally made up his mind only after Saturday night in Brisbane where he was assistant coach of the winning Indigenous All Stars team.
The previous night he had been in Geelong where the Storm were humiliated by Canberra in a trial match. He knew his absence from the Storm for a week with the Indigenous team, together with the protracted delay over his contract, was having an effect on the team.
Against the Raiders, Melbourne were unimaginative, uncommitted and unprepared. He savagely rebuked the players in the dressing room after the match but could well have looked at himself in the mirror. He admitted as much at Monday's press conference. ''It [the decision on his future] was becoming a distraction. I haven't been coaching as well as I should the last 10 days.''
On Sunday night, Bellamy called Dragons chief executive Peter Doust and team manager Craig Young and informed them of his decision to remain in Melbourne.
Bellamy described the Dragons in ways we have come to expect: ''excellent, professional, patient.''
He then called Fordham and asked him to convey a message to the Storm he would accept their contract, which effectively is a three-year extension of the one that concludes this season.
At 8am on Monday, during the changeover at training between the backs, who began work at 7am and the forwards, he gathered all the players in a meeting room and informed them of his decision. ''I thought they might be a bit 'oh yeah' about it all,'' he said. ''They weren't.''
Sustained cheering and clapping followed and then it was back to work before a mid-afternoon flight to Heathrow for the World Club Challenge match against Super League champions, Leeds.
Long-term sponsors, such as Host Plus and Suzuki, attended a lunch-time barbecue and pledged their continuing support. Suzuki's Tony Devers said: ''I'll look at a long-term deal, now.''
However, Bellamy was only looking to the short term.
Asked if he was aiming for back-to-back premierships, he said: ''I'm more concerned about the World Club Challenge and the first competition game.''
Which fate has dictated is against … St George Illawarra.
