{"id":462369,"date":"2026-02-06T13:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462369\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T13:54:13","slug":"bellamy-makes-shock-call-on-storm-nrl-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/462369\/","title":{"rendered":"Bellamy makes shock call on Storm NRL future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Craig Bellamy has stunned the rugby league world by extending his coaching tenure with the Melbourne Storm<\/a>, locking himself in for two additional seasons beyond his current deal.<\/p>\n

The extension means the master coach will now remain at the helm until the end of 2028, taking his time in charge to an extraordinary 26 consecutive seasons.<\/p>\n

The move comes as a major surprise given many within the game believed 2026 would be Bellamy\u2019s final year, with retirement widely tipped at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

Instead of winding down, the 66-year-old has doubled down, committing to lead Melbourne for the next three seasons in total.<\/p>\n

MORE: Terrell May drops R360 bombshell: ‘I would have left 100%’<\/a><\/p>\n

Bellamy shared the news with players and staff on Friday night as preparations ramp up for the upcoming NRL campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoaching Melbourne Storm has always been a huge honour, I love this Club and everything it represents, the people, our history and our fans.\u201d Bellamy stated.<\/p>\n

Already one of the most decorated coaches in league history, Bellamy\u2019s career with the Storm includes 604 games, 22 Finals Series appearances and 11 Grand Final berths.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

His record also features five premiership victories and six Minor Premierships during one of the most dominant eras any club has produced.<\/p>\n

Bellamy said having clarity around his future played a key role in his decision to continue and points to why he also may have decided to make a surprise decision before the 2026 season began.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving 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,\u201d Bellamy said.<\/p>\n

Storm Chairman Matt Tripp praised the veteran mentor\u2019s ongoing impact, calling him one of the greatest coaches the game has seen.<\/p>\n

Tripp highlighted Bellamy\u2019s energy and drive in a Storm statement this evening as reasons the club is confident success will continue under his leadership.<\/p>\n

The long-time Storm boss is one of only four coaches in premiership history to surpass 600 games and holds the astounding record for most consecutive matches coached at a single club.<\/p>\n

He also boasts the best win\u2013loss record of any current NRL coach and has claimed a record seven Dally M Coach of the Year awards.<\/p>\n

What once looked like the beginning of the end has instead become a fresh chapter, with Bellamy choosing to chase more silverware rather than step away from the game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Craig Bellamy has stunned the rugby league world by extending his coaching tenure with the Melbourne Storm, locking…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-462369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462369","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=462369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}