Queensland Maroons great Cameron Smith believes Craig Bellamy has made the right call to step away from NSW duties amid Melbourne's horrible run of form.
In February before the season had started, Wide World of Sports' The Mole had reported that Bellamy would not continue as a coaching consultant and now that's been confirmed two months later.
Melbourne have now lost six matches in a row and were smashed by the Rabbitohs on Saturday, with Bellamy declaring it's "the most embarrassed I've ever been in my footy life".
READ MORE: Nike burned by mind-bending marathon as shoe wars take twist
READ MORE: Johns' blunt Galvin verdict turns up heat on Bulldogs
READ MORE: Slater's fear for Tigers as Luai sparks 'public circus'
Smith said his former coach's decision to focus solely on the Storm is what's needed.
"I remember when he coached the Blues in 2008, '09 and '10 and I remember him finishing up that season and saying it took a lot of focus away from his club preparation," the legendary hooker said on Nine's 100% Footy.
"His club is in a really difficult spot right now so I think he's made the right decision to go back and focus fully on the Storm."
As for Melbourne's form, Smith described it as "unfamiliar territory" for the current cohort of players.
Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and 9Now.
The club icon went on to describe the players as "flat" and "low on confidence" and then recounted the 2012 season where his team lost five in a row, and a poignant Bellamy conversation.
100% Footy is now available as a podcast! Subscribe/follow via Apple, Spotify or Google Podcasts
"I remember the fifth consecutive game we lost against the Dragons down at WIN Stadium and Craig Bellamy came walking out into the field and met me post-game and looked at me and said 'I don't know where to go from here'," Smith explained.
"Then all we spoke about and what we did the next week was simplify our football, not worry about all the fancy plays, let's strip it right back, make our tackles, complete our sets and let's just work hard and it will turn and it did.
"I don't think we lost a game for the rest of that season once we stripped everything back and really simplified the part of our football and preparation."
Smith then pointed to the words of Cameron Munster and Harry Grant who were confused after the Rabbitohs loss about how their training standards aren't transferring to game day.
"That's a good thing," he said.
"If their training and preparation hadn't been good, then there's a lot of issues going on. They just need to stick at it."
The Storm will play the Dolphins next on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.