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How Bellamy has turned 'water into wine' at Melbourne
Nicholas Quinlan • August 28th, 2025 8:43 am
Robert Craddock has reflected on the career of Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy and the influence he has had on the game.
For many fans, it’s hard to imagine a Melbourne Storm side without Bellyache in the coach’s box.
Across his 23-season coaching career with the club, he has achieved a win rate of 69.95% which is the highest of any coach who has coached more than 60 games.
He has also managed to take them to finals in 21 of those seasons, which resulted in three grand final victories (five overall if you include the two that have been stripped due to the club’s breach of the salary cap).
While his tenure has not been plain sailing, as shown by the 2010 salary cap breach that put the club through utter turmoil, one thing that has remained is the affection he has for his players, with Craddock drawing comparisons to Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan in that regard.
“Since he joined them in 2003, they’ve gone to 10 Grand Finals,” he told SEN’s Whateley.
“They’ve basically been anchored in the playoffs each year, and they won five of those Grand Finals, two of them were taken off because of the salary cap scandal, which was a horrendous blackmark.
“In some ways, he reminds me of Chris Fagan in that he cares for his players. They say he’s been invited to about 100 weddings of players in his time.
“And he has that ability like Fagan to give them a right royal serve, and for some reason, they don’t take offence.
“Like they all laugh, they call him Doghead because he gets in the box, and when he gets angry, he accidentally spits on the window. Not a very esteemed nickname for a bloke that has coached 600, I must say.”
However, despite all the achievements he has made on the field, Craddock believes that his biggest achievement has been helping to make Rugby League a recognised sport in Melbourne, where it competes with the behemoth that is the AFL.
“I love his penetration beyond Rugby League,” Craddock mentioned.
“He’s in a non-Rugby League centric town in Melbourne. And as we so often say, I remember a phone call with Bill Lawry I had.
“And Bill was saying, ‘This guy is just incredible. How about his stats, he is unreal!’
“It took me a while to recalibrate the conversation as I thought, ‘This is Bill Lawry talking about Craig Bellamy, what’s happening in the world?’”
This season, the Storm have been fit and firing as usual, as they currently sit second on the ladder.
And Craddock thinks they are just as good a chance of winning another premiership, given Bellamy’s ability to get players to perform beyond their usual standards.
“They’re premiership favourites,”
“I look at their team on paper sometimes and I think, ‘Gosh, he can turn water into wine’.
“There are some players there that I know they’re good players, but he just gets every possible ounce of ability out of them.
“That’s just great coaching.”
The Storm will celebrate Bellamy’s 600th game in front of their home fans against the Sydney Roosters on Friday night.
The Storm can secure their spot in the top two if they can beat the Roosters - kick-off will take place at 10pm (NZST).
