‘They won’t be playing’: Bellamy’s warning to players despite finals hopes dying
Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy admitted he will be a “bit pissed off really” after his side won’t play finals for the first time since 2010.
The Storm’s fate was sealed with a loss to the Bulldogs on Friday night after an unfamiliar season from the premiership powerhouses.
Craig Bellamy and Josh King post-match. Nine
Bellamy’s side has been hit by an injury crisis all season which started when Eli Katoa was ruled out before the season started due to concussion issues stemming from the Pacific Championships.
Friday’s loss to the Bulldogs summed up the Storm’s season after Jahrome Hughes was ruled out late with injury while Cam Munster and Harry Grant sat on the sidelines too.
The score was 16-16 at half-time before defence let the Storm down in the second half.
Post-match Bellamy said his players needed to “toughen up a bit” in defence before describing how he’ll feel watching finals from the couch.
“Bit pissed off really,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, it is what it is. My grandkids have got a couple of teddy bears so I might go home and punch the shit out of them,” he added with a laugh.
“We’ve been rock and rolling on the edge there for a month. It’s going to be disappointing not being there. It will be interesting to see how I handle it when the finals start when I’m not there, I might go for a walk (when games are on). We always pride ourselves on how we perform during the season so we are there at the end.
“There were a few things out of control, but defence hasn’t been up to the standard we expect or want.”
Despite having little on the line, Bellamy issued a warning to any players that won’t give 100 per cent over the remaining rounds.
“If anyone wants to go through the motions, if I see that at training, they won’t be playing first grade,” he said.
“At the end of the day every game’s important, it’s not quite as important as it has been the last few years because we’re not going to finals. But at the end of the day, we’re out there to play for each other and our fans. We’re not going on holidays and just turning up on Sunday to play. We’ll prepare the best we can and hopefully play the best we can.”
While Friday’s match was disappointing, the positive to come from it was halfback Hayden Watson’s debut.
Hayden Watson tries to run away from Stephen Crichton and Viliame Kikau. NRL Imagery
Watson had 13 runs for 114 metres which included four tackle breaks. He kicked for 190 metres with one forced drop out and also had to defend on the edge of Viliame Kikau.
Bellamy gave an insight into his new half post-match.
“He’s a talented kid without a doubt. For a halfback, he’s fairly quiet around the group. He’s not an out there kid, he sticks to himself a bit and is very quiet but when it’s time to train and knuckle down, he just zeros in,” he said.
“That was probably as good as a debut I’ve seen from a halfback, especially at his age. He came in and did a great job for us.
“He was on a tough side with Crichton and Kikau but I thought he did a real good job with the ball and without it.”
Brad Fittler was also impressed by the youngster’s bravery.
“He came up with a beautiful pass in the first half but what you saw was he didn’t mind running so he wasn’t scared at all,” he said.
“He’s really strong actually, you look at the sizes of his legs. I think he’s straight out of school so he’s got a lot of growing to do.
“He’s very confident ... he had the assignment of not only running at Viliame Kikau but also defending him. Viliame’s side-stepping you ... to tackle someone like Kikau you’ve got to be good at communication because you can’t tackle him one out.”
