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As a player, Craig Bellamy was a self-confessed plodder who got the best out of his ability by being the hardest trainer and dedicated pro in an era before full-time professionalism.
In a team which eventually became full of stars, he grinded his way to 148 games as a centre or five-eighth for Canberra from 1982-92, coming off the bench in the 1990 grand final win over Penrith after playing in the reserve-grade decider earlier that day.
So it should be no surprise that one of the many magical attributes he’s brought to his coaching career has been turning supposedly average players into very good ones.
Despite losing stars the calibre of Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Will Chambers, Ryan Hoffman and Suilasi Vunivalu over the past few years, the Storm have not only remained contenders but took out the 2020 title as Bellamy constantly regenerated his roster.
They appeared to be headed for back-to-back titles after romping to the minor premiership on the back of a record-equalling 19-game winning streak before they were upset by the Panthers in the preliminary final as Penrith charged to their first premiership since 2003.
Across the board, Melbourne were elite in virtually every department last season.
First in points (861), tries (151), line breaks (189), tackle breaks (954), dummy-half runs (299), running metres conceded (1194 per game) and line breaks conceded (3.2 on average).
If you want to be a nark, they were ranked 12th in goal-kicking percentage but that was mainly due to their main man Ryan Papenhuyzen missing a large chunk of the season and part-timers like Cameron Munster filling in with limited success.
Bellamy heads into the 2022 season with a squad which has again lost crucial personnel, mainly Test winger Josh Addo-Carr to the Bulldogs, and rapidly improving utility Nicho Hynes and NSW lock Dale Finucane to Cronulla.
Addo-Carr’s absence and crowd-pleasing appeal will be hard to replace but the Storm are well stocked in the outside backs, particularly with the arrival of Nick Meaney from Canterbury and Brisbane’s Maroons speedster Xavier Coates, who has the potential to one day match “The Foxx” for try-scoring and game-breaking prowess.
Hynes was fantastic for Melbourne last season while Papenhuyzen was sidelined long term due to concussion problems but by finals time when the team was at full strength, he was relegated to the bench.
Finucane will arguably be their biggest loss. The 30-year-old middle forward, who racked up 152 games for the Storm since 2015, was one of Bellamy’s many success stories.
Although he was already an established first-grader after three seasons at Canterbury when he arrived at Melbourne, he became a cornerstone of the club’s ongoing brilliance and now Bellamy has to find a player who can fill that crucial role of doing the dirty work that doesn’t attract headlines but is a key pillar to any premiership push.
In 17 games last season after a later start due to a calf concern, Finucane averaged 12 runs for 102 metres, 22 tackles at around 55 minutes per match.
Those kind of raw stats don’t leap off the page but Finucane made just four errors for the season, gave away just one penalty, his tackle efficiency was more than 90%, he conceded only two line breaks and was not pinged for a single try cause.
They’re the kind of stats that make hard-to-please coaches like Bellamy momentarily stop frothing at the mouth and form something resembling a smile.
Bellamy still has reliable old-stagers like Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi and Christian Welch at his disposal but there are questions over the rest of their forward depth.
Your Most Improved Player of the Year, everyone!
We love ya Nicho. #StormPOTYA presented by @RedZedAustralia pic.twitter.com/jbg3jQmOrL
— Melbourne Storm (@storm) December 10, 2021
Fijian forward Tui Kamikamika is unavailable under the NRL’s “no-fault stand down” policy after being charged with assault occasioning bodily harm following an alleged incident involving a woman at a Brisbane nightspot late last year.
Kiwi prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s playing future had been uncertain after he refused to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, which is a legal requirement to play and train with the team under Victorian health orders. However, he returned to training on Thursday morning and club later put out an official statement to say he had “provided all necessary information and certification to comply” with the government’s requirements.
Brandon Smith is the man most likely to fill Finucane’s vacant No.13 jersey but he is suspended for round one due to the “white-powder” incident at the end of last season along with fellow forward Chris Lewis and Munster at five-eighth.
Smith has the ability to get through a mountain of work but he’s at his best when used in shorter spurts to break open a game.
Lewis is someone who could fill a similar role to Finucane with a sprinkling of Bellamy magic dust. Trent Loiero is a young player viewed upon as a potential back-row mainstay while Tepai Moeroa, Tom Eisenhuth and Josh King also fit the mould of Bellamy reclamation projects who go from being cast-off journeymen to valuable contributors.