'He means a lot to me': Greg Inglis becomes emotional in touching tribute to Craig Bellamy
NRL legend Greg Inglis has paid an emotional tribute to his former coach Craig Bellamy and says he owes much of his career to the Melbourne mentor.
The Storm last month revealed Bellamy, 66, has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder.
While he and the club have not specified exactly what the condition is, tributes have been flooding in from around the game for the champion coach.
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Inglis was brought to Melbourne as a 14-year-old and made his NRL debut for the Storm in 2005.
He went on to have one of the all-time careers, winning grand finals with Melbourne (premierships later stripped) and South Sydney and becoming a superstar at representative level for both Queensland and Australia before retiring in 2021.
Greg Inglis on 100% Footy. Nine
Inglis was on Nine's 100% Footy panel on Monday night and he became emotional when asked about Bellamy's health diagnosis.
"He means a lot to me, to be honest," Inglis said after a lengthy pause.
"He gave me faith, he gave me my debut jersey. He gave me, I guess, a point of a life I could have in rugby league.
"It's obviously pretty hard to hear that news. But he has all the support, he has all the love out there, not only in the rugby league community but in the entire community around him.
"I signed with Melbourne at 14, and he's been there since I was 14 to now.
"He's been a big part of my life."
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Greg Inglis with Craig Bellamy during their Storm days.
While Inglis, now 39, stopped short of crediting his entire NRL career to Bellamy and the Storm, he says he might not have had so much success if it wasn't for their guidance.
"I think I would have made my way somewhere around rugby league," he said.
"But I don't think if I wasn't in that structure, that I would have had the career that I had.
"So I've got to thank Melbourne and Craig for that."
After dodging media for a week since the revelation, Bellamy addressed his health diagnosis over the weekend and thanked supporters for their well wishes.
The Storm are adamant the supercoach will be able to continue in the role for the foreseeable future.
Bellamy is contracted to the club for a further two seasons after this one.
