NRL 2024, Melbourne Storm, Craig Bellamy re-signs with the club

Craig Bellamy has backed the next generation of Storm stars to build on the club’s success story after committing to coach the club for a 23rd season.

The experienced mentor is in the middle of a five-year deal he signed with Melbourne in 2022 that provides the option to transition into a technical director role after each season.

That may be the long-term plan, but Bellamy remains committed to coaching the club and is excited to develop a new generation of talented youngsters led by rookie full-back Sualauvi Faalogo.

“We’ve brought in some young guys, they’ve done a very good job for us,” Bellamy told reporters Friday morning. “We’ve got a chance to see a couple more young guys this week, we’ve got a couple of injuries.

“It’s always interesting to see those guys come in and how they handle it. I’m sure they’ll do a good job for us.”

Faalogo will make his first start at fullback for the Storm in Saturday night’s top-of-the-table clash against the Sharks at AAMI Park.

The 21-year-old takes on the role in place of injured star Ryan Papenhuyzen, who suffered a fractured fibula last weekend.

Faalogo has already scored three tries in two NRL appearances and has been tipped by many to enjoy a long and successful career.

Born in Samoa, he grew up in Melbourne before progressing through Storm’s youth pathway.

Bellamy expects Cronulla halfback Nicho Hynes to launch an aerial blitz on the young full-back but backed Faalogo to thrive under pressure.

“I have all the confidence in the world with Sua, especially under the high ball,” Bellamy said. “He grew up in Victoria playing in the AFL, so I expect him to be good at high balls.”

Bellamy has become one of the NRL’s most successful coaches since taking charge of the Storm in 2003. He has managed the team in 555 games, winning 387 with an impressive 70% win rate while also notching three prime ministerial titles (2012, 2017 and 2020). ) and five minor prime ministers (2011, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2021).

As well as success on the Melbourne pitch, Bellamy has successfully weathered the departure of a host of stars without the results fading, with the likes of Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and the Bromwich brothers moving on to other clubs or withdrawing. throughout the last decade.

The manager has developed a new generation of players to keep the success sustained, with Harry Grant, Cameron Munster, Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes helping the team to second place in the standings after 10 rounds this season.

The announcement provides certainty to the playing group and coaching staff as Storm officials plan for 2025 and beyond.

“Craig is training as well as ever and shows no signs of slowing down,” said Storm president Matt Tripp.

“He has a great support base with his assistant coaches and high-performance staff, which gives Craig the opportunity to focus on what he has done extremely well over 22 seasons at the Storm.

“In our opinion, Craig is the best coach to have ever coached in the NRL and we were willing to give him all the time he needed to decide if 2024 would be his last role.

“His approach this season has shown that he has a lot to offer and we are very pleased that he will return to lead this team in 2025.”