Is Craig Bellamy our best coach, league or union?

 
Spiro Zavos Columnist

By , 2 Oct 2009 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert

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NSW Blues State of Origin coach Craig Bellamy speaks to the media during a press conference to announce the NSW Rugby League team of the century in Sydney, Monday, May 19, 2008. The NSW Blues take on Queensland this Wednesday in game 1 of the State of Origin series. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

NSW Blues State of Origin coach Craig Bellamy speaks to the media during a press conference to announce the NSW Rugby League team of the century in Sydney, Monday, May 19, 2008. The NSW Blues take on Queensland this Wednesday in game 1 of the State of Origin series. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

With his fourth NRL Grand Final in a row coming up on Sunday, and another championship ring likely, the question has to be asked: Is Craig Bellamy our best coach in any Australian rugby code right now? The answer, in my opinion, is not yet.

He is undoubtedly the finest rugby league coach of his generation.

In time, when his career has the sort of length that Wayne Bennett has achieved, with the successes as well at every level of the rugby league code – club, State of Origin and International -  Bellamy could be ranked in the trinity of the greatest rugby league coaches with Jack Gibson and Bennett.

Right now, Bellamy is the dominant coach at the NRL premiership level.

He has the knack of winning premierships (not an easy knack to acquire) and the ability to create an environment where players play above their seeming capacity.

The play of Brett Finch, a Parramatta Eels discard, and now a key part of the Melbourne Storm’s game plan, is a case in point.

Like all great coaches, too, Bellamy is innovative and thoughtful with his new tactics and his selections.

Personally, I abhorred the grapple tackle and argued in The Roar that if it was not legislated against the NRL would, in time, face a horrendously expensive compensation case.

But the tactic of slowing down play in the tackled ball situation with the grapple tackle gave the Storm an edge for a couple of seasons.

It has forced a change in the way rugby league is refereed, too, with two referees used now to ensure quicker re-starts.

Bellamy’s use of wrestling experts to teach his players how to dominate in the tackle/grapple has led to the concept of the ‘dominant’ tackle and the right of the player (invariably Storm players when they are involved) making this tackle to dictate the speed of the play-the-ball.

Bellamy, too, like all the other great coaches, can get into the heads of his best players and bring out their greatness. Billy Slater has developed a total game under Bellamy’s coaching and when, for instance, the Storm desperately need some go-forward, you will find Slater playing long stretches at dummy half.

Greg Inglis, who came into rugby league as a devastating winger, has been turned into an even more devastating centre. At centre, he gets the ball more often than he did on the wing.

And with great players like Inglis, the name of the coaching game is to get the ball as often as you can to your best players.

Great coaches have this gift of finding the best position for their best players (even if the position is a new one) and then are able to give them the coaching to make the most of the positional change.

The blot on Bellamy’s copybook is a lack of success at State of Origin level. He really needs success at this level to truly emulate Bennett.

There is arguably a defence for Bellamy here in that he does not select the NSW side that he has to coach. If he were given a free hand, as he clearly has at the Storm, it would be easier to judge whether he has been a failure at the Stare of Origin level.

In a sense, Bellamy’s career so far is following the trajectory of Robbie Deans, with great success at the club level (Deans won seven Super Rugby titles with the Canterbury Crusaders) and little (Deans) or no (Bellamy) success at the next highest level.

Years ago, I made the suggestion that the ARU should perhaps look at Wayne Bennett as a coach for the Wallabies. This was prompted by the fact that Tim Sheens spent a year or so advising the All Blacks (in a successful era for the team) while he was between stints with a NRL club.

There is also the fact that the two Wallaby triumphs in the Rugby World Cup tournament featured significant inputs from rugby league people, Rod Reddy with tackling in 1991, and Steve Nance (fitness) and John Muggleton (defence strategy and techniques) in 1999.

Perhaps Deans could pick Bellamy’s brains for the Wallabies, and Bellamy could get some pointers from Deans.

But coming back to the question posed at the beginning of this article, I think the case is clear that Bellamy is the best coach right now in rugby league; that in time, he might get close to the greatness of Bennett; and that his record right now has a long way to go to emulate that of Deans, in the other rugby code.

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