Craig Bellamy will remain coach of the Melbourne Storm in 2025

The Craig Bellamy era at Melbourne Storm will continue until 2025 after the master coach decided to keep his legendary career going for one more season.

Bellamy signed a five-year contract with the Storm in 2022 that allows him to decide each year whether he will continue in the head coaching role for the following season or move into the head coach role.

With his team second in the NRL standings, with seven wins from their first eight games and an impressive 21st finals series since taking over in 2003 on the horizon, Bellamy, now 64, has opted to remain in charge for a 23rd season.

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“He has coached over 550 games and is an absolute legend of the game and, in our opinion, the best coach not only in the NRL now, but the best coach of all time,” Storm chief executive Justin Rodski said.

“We are very excited as a club to have Craig on board for another year.”

Bellamy attributed his decision to the people at the club.

“Sometimes (the fire) probably doesn’t burn very hot, but you go through different stages throughout the year, but also from year to year,” Bellamy said.

“But the main reason why I stay is the people at the club, from the leaders to the players and the coaching staff.

“There are a lot of really good people here. They’re good at what they do, but from Matt Tripp, our president, they’re all really good, decent people and they really care about the goal of our club.

“And I can say the same for our players and football staff, so that’s what encouraged me to stay.”

Bellamy revealed that his decision was easier this year than the last few calls about his future.

“I have a contract here where every year I can do a part-time role or keep the full-time role, so I probably used it up a little bit in the last few years, but I’m happy to still be here.” Bellamy said.

“To be honest, I’m really enjoying it. We have really good people in all parts of the organization.

“I am really enjoying working with the players. I think we have a pretty talented group this year. The good thing about it is that they work very hard because they really care about who we are and they care about their teammates.”

Bellamy revealed that Cameron Munster again played a big role in his staying.

“He actually approached me about two weeks ago,” Bellamy said of Munster.

“That was his usual visit, but a couple of senior players also spoke to me. I wanted to make sure they were happy for me to stay, too.

“Sometimes you can get a little worn out and I’m getting older too, so some of the things happening these days are a bit modern for me.

“I still have a little bit of the old school in me, but they encouraged me to keep going, so that was a big part of making the decision.”

Bellamy was asked if the club’s success at the top of the table was a factor.

“That’s probably a good question, if we would have been at the other end of the table, I don’t know,” Bellamy said.

“But that wasn’t too much of a part of the decision.”

His decision comes ahead of a monster clash on Saturday night with table leaders Cronulla at AAMI Park.

Storm continued to regenerate during Bellamy’s reign, again featuring one of the NRL’s best columns in Cameron Munster, Jahrome Hughes, who this week said he wanted to remain in Melbourne amid speculation of a possible move to the Gold Coast Titans, Ryan Papenhuyzen and new Captain Harry Grant.

Last week, before playing his 200th game for Melbourne, Storm superstar playmaker Cameron Munster said Bellamy’s continued presence was one of the main reasons he turned down a monster offer from the Dolphins to stay in the club.

“Everyone makes fun of me being their son and having that love-hate relationship that we have, but deep down I knew I didn’t want anyone else to coach me,” he said.

“And, it’s funny enough, I’m still trying to get him to stay longer as his teeth get longer, but for me, yeah, I’m very grateful to the owners and obviously Craig guided me to the person.” Am.”

Storm brought former Bellamy assistant Jason Ryles back to the club in 2024, which was speculated as a succession plan. But he will have to bide his time after Friday’s decision.

Bellamy is one of five managers in Premier League history to reach the 500-game mark and leads the list for most consecutive games with a club.

He led Storm to the final in his first year in charge, and to 19 more finals series since then, winning five grand finals and seven minor premierships on seven occasions.

Bellamy has the best win-loss record of any current coach in the NRL, having been awarded the Dally M Coach of the Year award six times and the International Rugby League Federation Coach of the Year twice.