Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is finally happy after his red-hot side scored 50 unanswered points against South Sydney at Stadium Australia.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy rarely affords a smile but one crept onto his face after his team had knocked South Sydney down 50-0 at Stadium Australia.
A 71-year record-equalling six tries from star winger Josh Addo-Carr helped the Storm run up the unfortunate score against the depleted Rabbitohs on Thursday night.
The win rocketed last year’s premiers into second on the ladder but the coach was more impressed with their complete performance, which he hailed as their best of the season.
Earlier this year, they scored 52 points against Canterbury but let in three tries which tested Bellamy’s impossibly high standards.
But Thursday’s win was the first time this season the Storm have held a team scoreless, and just the third time they’ve done so since the start of 2017.
“That was easily our best performance of the season. I don’t think we’ve put together a good consistent 80 minutes together this year,” Bellamy said.
“We’ve had a couple of good halves, and a couple of games that we’ve been good for 60 minutes or so, but not 80 and I thought tonight we did that.
“I know Souths were down in strength a bit but a team can only play what’s put out there and I thought they were tremendous tonight.”
Addo-Carr’s incredible six-try haul pulled the spotlight, but Bellamy reserved praise for his dual dummy halves, Brandon Smith and Harry Grant.
Smith started the game with Grant coming on after 20 minutes to hunt around the ruck, with the pair working in tandem to punch holes in the defensive line.
It’s a ploy that’s worked for Bellamy so far this season, but perhaps better than anyone could have expected after losing the game’s greatest player in Cameron Smith for this season.
“We had a big hole to fill there with Cameron retiring, I’m not quite sure we’ve filled that hole but we’ve done it in a different way with the players,” Bellamy said.
“They care about the club, they care about the team and they care about their performance and they play to their strengths and that’s what we’re about.
“I’m sure Cameron is sitting up there with a beer in his hand on the Gold Coast and really enjoying it.
“He’s given those two guys a lot of advice and a lot of help and we’re seeing the results of what they’ve spoken to Cameron about and practised.”
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
The restart rule is the game returning to unlimited tackle rule as it was pre-1967 but without scrums. If it reduces the bomb it might improve things but as it is now we have more blowouts and that is boring causing a switch of channels. I took part in the code wars article. Great article I enjoyed it. I wrote of my 18 months living in Adelaide with it's AF media writing false stories about the evil Sydney Rugby League causing me to phone home to Sydney for the results.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
Restart rule is awesome; it's a great way to keep the game flowing! Rugby League history pre-1988 is frankly irrelevant and as for code wars, https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/07/06/time-to-end-the-code-wars-afl-and-nrl-can-live-in-harmony/ enjoy the article
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
All good things come in threes and three is the perfect number for a Rugby League try. As for living in the past the best meal I have ever eaten was on one of my few trips to Queensland. We were trying to get to FNQ but only made it to Yepoon. I had a seafood basket at a pub and it was the best meal I have ever eaten. That is the one drawback to living in beautiful sunny Canberra.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Stop living in the past. I plead guilty to discussing Rugby League history as well as the fiddling with the rules by our modern administrators. This restart rule is a good example of the modern era administrators attempting to increase the crowds and I think it's rubbish. I also like code wars with AFL fans. Cats are pests bringing extinction to our unique marsupials and we have ravens in Australia not crows. Dragons, Broncos, Rabbitohs and Cowboys are much better even if only one of those are real Australians.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Your guessing is way off as it was the NSWRL administrators, Ken Arthurson and John Quayle, who changed the value of tries from 3 to 4 way back in 1982. Their reason was they wanted to see more tries in the hope of stopping the alarming trend of falling crowds in the Sydney competition. To their credit they did bring in the Brisbane Broncos but they figured if tries were worth more teams would score more tries and bring the crowds back. This had the effect of devaluing penalties so there was more laying on the tackled players as the good defensive teams knew the attacking team would not convert the penalty but go for a try and more often that not come up with nothing.
andyfnq
Roar Rookie
And stuck with the NSWRL as well I'm guessing :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: This is League for the modern era, stop living in the past
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
The new N tackle rule is the reason we see a 71-year record-equalling six tries in a game. If we made tries worth 9 points we could also see more records go. Breaking records only makes sense if we don’t make huge changes to the rules and scoring values. We should have kept tries worth three points.
The Mexican
Roar Rookie
I think he was a hooker in his early days and a utility for Melbourne, he was manufactured into a halfback with the help of Andrew John's
Paul
Roar Rookie
Joe there's been a HB conveyor belt in Melbourne since 1998 : Kimmorley, Orford, Cronk, Hughes...
Paul
Roar Rookie
With the Fox leaving next year, I suggest Humes stays put and plays on the left wing with Papenhuizen at FB. Problem solved IMHO.
adam smith
Guest
I didn’t know or realise that Mex, what position was Cronk before that?
The Mexican
Roar Rookie
Remember Cooper Cronk? He wasn't always a halfback, he was manufactured into one when Matt Orford jumped ship to Manly, it just goes to show that if you want something bad enough & work really hard, you can certainly get it!
Stormy
Roar Rookie
Make that fulbacks, as well, Joe.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
Agreed, Duncan, just hoping that he is willing to be patient to continue to be playing at a successful club.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
So would I, at present, Joe. Papa does have speed & try scoring ability. I could be wrong & probably am - I see Hynes as the more intelligent player, who looks for options & what's happening ahead. Given more experience & the right coaching, I see a much longer career, for him, at full back than Paps.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
I hope, wherever he plays, that he doesn't just chase big dollars; that he chooses improvement & success as well.
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Nominate a team he goes to that improves his options? Me, I'd rather wins games and be in the running for GFs, even off the bench than start for some also ran club, of which there are many in the NRL at present. Did someone say Tino??
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Cam Smith is no doubt a great, but to call him the GOAT is (in my view) disrespectful to other greats like Clive Churchill, Artie Beetson, Wally Lewis, Andrew Johns et al; I wonder if Cam Smith would have been as "great" had he played all his career with a lower ranked team? I'd prefer a fit. firing Greg Inglis any day of the week. But dont get me wrong Smith is up there with the best. I'm with you Sandgroper on the NSW / Roosters sombrero point.
Duncan Smith
Roar Guru
Hynes is like Matt Burton - stuck behind good spine players at his present club, but too good not to play first grade somewhere...
Sandgroper
Roar Rookie
Poor call there BM , not even close Pick a record he hasn't broken or owned. When asked why Cameron Smith receives less than reasonable performance assessments from emotional non-fans, Luke Lewis - a quality player himself who had played against CS and with him at International level - responded .... "his success" Name a 'great' of the game that did not play with successful team/s or quality personnel and perhaps this observation may be seen as something other than emotional outpourings I think we all know that if Cam Smith had played for NSW and/or the Roosters, he would be an immortal already ..... and I'm sure NSWRL would be able to fit him under Rooster's salary 'sombrero' ...hahahahaha