Our Genious Coach said.........

[ism22]

Don't get me wrong Bellamy is clearly a brilliant coach I don't care what anyone says.

But he does have question marks over him, they were able to keep together a core group of exceptional players by being the biggest salary cap cheaters in the history of the game. He's been fortunate enough to have IMO the best player in the game Cam Smith at dummy half, not just the best player in the game but a player who has revolutionised his position and no other team has come close to imitating. And then there's the whole NSW debacle where he looked way out of his depth.

For some perspective;

This notion that players get worse after they leave the Storm I think is rubbish, Tohu Harris is playing his best footy ever, Blake Green has been as good if not better everywhere he's been since, Greg Inglis hit his peak at Souths, Gareth Widdop has developed no end, Slade Griffin, Nathan Friend, Jeremy Smith etc etc..

That's not to say Melbourne clearly don't have a great recruitment and development system, they clearly do but I also think a lot of players get over-hyped down there which is natural with any successful team. Take a player like Vunivalu for example, he's got suspect defence, ranks in the top 5 in the game for errors made, makes some really dumb decisions in attack but geez he's a fine athlete. In any other team he'd be called inconsistent or a liability. At Melbourne he's 'one of the best wingers in the game' because the honest truth is that errors and defensive lapses only matter to 90% of people if you're not winning and the one thing Melbourne do better than most is win.

I call it the Kevin Proctor syndrome, an average player who gets over-hyped in a winning team, then signs elsewhere, gets exposed and people just jump to the assumption that it must be because he's no longer in the 'Melbourne system'. Rather than the possibility that they over-rated him during his time at the Storm.

I believe that players look better in the Melbourne team because it's a winning team, I don't necessarily subscribe to the notion that all of them are playing better though (some undoubtedly do). Kind of like when we won in 2013 and Daniel Tupou 'looked' like a top winger. He went on to play for NSW and Australia the next year and was much loved by the fan group here... has he really gotten worse since 2013? In 2013 he was still making errors, having defensive errors and being driven back in attack. It was just easier to forget because we were winning...

There's a lot of hype around Craig Bellamy on this forum all of a sudden (I assume because he's off contract) but when you consider in 2010 when they became salary cap compliant he was still left with the best spine in the game, maybe the best we will ever see in a salary cap era, he already had time to build the structure of his off field staff and on field systems, they are a top 3 club for off-field spending and are in the top 3 for 3rd party contracts. With all that said it took him 8 seasons since becoming salary cap compliant to win his 2nd premiership and people want Robinson sacked because he hasn't been able to do it in 5 seasons.

It's undeniable that Bellamy is a great coach but there's a huge unknown risk to whoever wants to sign him next.

I agree. My concern is that he did not know the weaknesses of his best players and has not been called upon as an advisor since his brief stint with NSW.

THAT SAID... our current coach has Cronk, Keary, Tedesco, Cordner, Napa, JWH, SST, Friend, Latrell, Fergo, Toops...etc. Say what you like about them and/or their current form... I think it is arguable that this is far more talent on paper than Melbourne had when they won their last premiership. Yes Bellamy has always had more than his fair share of talent in the squad, but so have other (unsuccesful) teams who just dont seem to know how to pull it all together...

Would Bellamy pull it together with our squad? I dont think so. I think that is Robbos job, he has been hired to do it, he is enjoying the challenge and he has a plan for our next 2 seasons that evolves with the game (the direction of which is difficult to predict because teams develop around you, injuries happen and the refs/bunker change their focus/direction at will). If we keep playing the way we are (i.e. poorly with LOTS of errors and little discipline) then I think his reputation as a coach will be tarnished and he will not have a job with us beyond 2019.

[The Brain]

Bellamy is smart enough to know when a players used by date comes up .he bloods in the new quite well and pisses off the stalemates.They may go onto other clubs and rekindle their form but he knows when to move em on.