{"id":462290,"date":"2026-02-06T13:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462290\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:01:15","slug":"craig-bellamy-makes-shock-early-call-on-nrl-coaching-future-to-re-sign-with-melbourne-storm-until-2028","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462290\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Bellamy makes shock early call on NRL coaching future to re-sign with Melbourne Storm until 2028"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne Storm<\/a> have secured supercoach Craig Bellamy until at least the end of 2028, seeing off expectations that this year could be his last in charge of the NRL<\/a> powerhouse.<\/p>\n

The 66-year-old\u2019s existing five-year deal \u2014 complete with the freedom to decide his future on a yearly basis \u2014 expires at the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

But on the eve of the season he has taken the surprise step of putting pen to paper on a two-year extension.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

The early announcement is a significant turnaround, after Bellamy dragged his feet in recent years and only told the Storm in June that he would coach on in 2026.<\/p>\n

Bellamy will turn 69 at the end of the 2028 season \u2014 his 26th year in charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching Melbourne Storm has always been a huge honour,\u201d he said in a club statement on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this club and everything it represents, the people, our history and our fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said I\u2019ll only keep coaching if the club believes I can still contribute. Having that certainty for the next three years is reassuring and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how far we can continue to grow as a squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also excited to keep working with our coaching and performance staff, who make Storm such a great place to be. We\u2019ve got an outstanding coaching group, who are very capable, and I\u2019m looking forward to helping with their ongoing development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BellamyBellamy was courted by Gold Coast last year. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

Just last year Bellamy was courted heavily by the Gold Coast Titans, who struck an unusual agreement with new coach Josh Hannay to step aside if the veteran opted to join the club.<\/p>\n

But that plan was shot down within weeks when Bellamy, who has family in Queensland and regularly holidays in the state, made no indication of rushing into a decision.<\/p>\n

Storm officials hinted at an extended deal for their coach in the aftermath, with chairman Matt Tripp \u201cdelighted\u201d by the re-signing.<\/p>\n

\u201cCraig continues to coach at the highest level, leading an exceptional group of coaches and performance staff who give him every opportunity to focus on developing our players and driving success,\u201d he said on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cCraig\u2019s passion and determination are as strong as ever. He still has the energy and drive to take our team forward and help Melbourne Storm chase another premiership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melbourne have lost the last two grand finals and enter the 2026 campaign without star fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen (retired) and rising half Jonah Pezet (Parramatta).<\/p>\n

The club also cut ties with enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona while impressive forward Eli Katoa has been ruled out for the season following brain surgery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They have also already missed out on bringing Gold Coast captain Tino Fa\u2019asuamaleaui back to the club<\/a>, and Titans young gun Cooper Bai \u2014 the son of Storm great Marcus \u2014 has similarly turned down a move to Victoria to stay in Queensland.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Melbourne could end up with a hefty legal bill in the wake of a high-stakes court spat over former Parramatta star Zac Lomax.<\/p>\n

The Eels have filed legal proceedings to stop the State of Origin star, who was released from his contract last year, from jumping ship to the Storm.<\/p>\n

Lomax was initially released amid speculation he would move to the rebel R360 league, but he was left in limbo when its launch was postponed.<\/p>\n

A surprise switch to Melbourne from this year onwards has reportedly been valued at $1 million.<\/p>\n

\"ZacZac Lomax remains sidelined as a court case continues. Credit: AAP<\/p>\n

Melbourne had indemnified the State of Origin star and could be on the hook to cover his legal bill if the Eels emerge victorious in the case, the NSW Supreme Court heard during a brief hearing on Friday.<\/p>\n

In December, Lomax\u2019s lawyer Ramy Qutami said the winger could play with the Storm, Perth Bears or Canberra Raiders, Parramatta\u2019s barrister Arthur Moses SC told the court.<\/p>\n

Whether the Eels\u2019 withholding of consent to move to an NRL rival was reasonable or not depended on the conduct of both teams and Lomax, the barrister said.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old contends this contractual restriction cannot be enforced while Parramatta claims it is legal and valid.<\/p>\n

Mr Moses argued the NRL player would need to be cross-examined in court and a two-day hearing set to begin on Thursday would not be sufficient.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Friday, Lomax\u2019s barrister Adam Casselden SC pushed for the matter to be heard swiftly.<\/p>\n

Justice Francois Kunc told the barrister to explain why there would be consequences for Lomax if the hearing was heard over a week from March 2 instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will have to do some work to persuade me why the world will end if we push this back to the start of March,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This would mean the legal spat is held beyond the start of the NRL season, stymieing Lomax\u2019s chance to play in Round 1 next month.<\/p>\n

The parties will return to court on Monday to lock in the next steps.<\/p>\n

– with AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Melbourne Storm have secured supercoach Craig Bellamy until at least the end of 2028, seeing off expectations that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,1625,4466,761,762,158,3863,588,85],"class_list":["post-462290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-lifestyle","tag-melbourne-storm","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}