{"id":768713,"date":"2026-06-29T23:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T23:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768713\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T23:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T23:22:17","slug":"move-heaven-and-earth-storms-succession-plan-for-billy-as-hint-on-bellamys-future-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/768713\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Move heaven and earth\u2019: Storm\u2019s succession plan for Billy as hint on Bellamy\u2019s future revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-four hours after Billy Slater dropped a bombshell<\/a> in which he stated that he \u201cwon\u2019t be signing\u201d a new contract with Queensland, speculation has only intensified about links between him and the Melbourne Storm.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the NRL Premiership LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Regarded as a future NRL coach, Slater has been earmarked to succeed Craig Bellamy at the Storm, whose tenure at the club could come to an end sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Although he inked a two-year extension in February to coach the Storm until the end of 2028, the supercoach was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder earlier in the year, which has clouded his long-term coaching future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it depends on Craig. I think at the moment, Craig said he wants to go around again next year, (which) is the way I understand it,\u201d CODE Sports reporter Brent Read said on NRL 360.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will meet him in the next few weeks after Origin\u2019s over. They\u2019ll have a sit-down with Craig about next year, but as I understand it, Craig wants to go on next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelbourne won\u2019t shove him out the door. They\u2019ll leave it in Craig\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Queensland State of Origin coach Billy Slater at this mornings team announcement on the Sunshine Coast Picture QRLSource: Supplied Source Known<\/p>\n

With Bellamy eager to remain on as coach for at least one more season, Read proposed a \u201chybrid model\u201d that would see Slater around the club on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d imagine they\u2019ll put a bit more support around him with what he\u2019s going through and maybe part of that is some sort of hybrid model where Billy can help Craig and do Origin,\u201d Read continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know (if Billy is interested in the job), but if Craig walks away, they will move heaven and earth to get Billy the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Craig walks away, it\u2019s Billy\u2019s job and it\u2019ll be up to him if he takes it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater yet to decide future as QLD coach | 03:21<\/p>\n

While Slater has yet to comment on links between him and the Storm as he prepares for the 2026 State of Origin series decider, the club\u2019s chairman, Matt Tripp has made it clear that they are looking at the legendary fullback.<\/p>\n

\u201cBilly is definitely one guy we will be looking at,\u201d Tripp told The Courier-Mail last month about Melbourne\u2019s succession plan for Bellamy. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we need urgent change with Craig. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut if and when the day comes that Craig is ready to step down, if there is a hit list of 10 coaches, Billy Slater would be very high on it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t had this conversation with Billy yet about coaching the Storm out of respect to Craig. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would never disrespect Craig because he is our head coach and he\u2019s the priority, but Billy will be on our list (to one day replace Bellamy), for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-four hours after Billy Slater dropped a bombshell in which he stated that he \u201cwon\u2019t be signing\u201d a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-768713","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\/768713","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=768713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}