Brisbane have suffered a blow in their bid to pry Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy away from the club.
It has been revealed that not even for $20 million would Storm chairman Matt Tripp be willing to release his coach.
According to News Corp,ย the Storm's plan is to keep Bellamy at the club and do all they can to make sure they are the only club he coaches at.
In 2018, Brisbane also tried to get Bellamy to the club, before Bellamy re-committed to the Storm.
With the Broncos swinging the axe on Anthony Seibold on Wednesday, Broncos chairman Karl Morris said the club would speak to Bellamy about a return to Queensland.
โCraig Bellamy is contracted to the Storm until the end of next year and Matt Tripp will have plenty of money to pay him anything to stay,โ Morris said.
โIf Craig wants to return to Queensland, of course we would be prepared to have a conversation with him. Weโd be mad if we didnโt have that chat, but heโs not off-contract anyway so I donโt see the Storm losing him.
โWe will start the process next week and Iโd like to think we can have a new coach in place by November.โ
Bellamy is contracted at the Storm until 2021 and the club have no intention of letting one of the greatest coaches ever to leave.
โAbsolutely not, if the Broncos came to me and said โhere is a cheque for $20 million to release him from his contract earlyโ Iโd tell them to go look elsewhere,โ Tripp said.
โThatโs how strongly I feel. For the Melbourne Storm this is not about money, itโs about sustaining success and that happens by having the right people in the right roles. That starts with Craig.
โIf they think cash is going to buy him out of a contract they should think again. They can do their best and knock themselves out, but as far as Iโm concerned he will be coaching the Melbourne Storm until at least the end of 2021.โ
Bellamy is set to enter his 19th season coaching the Storm in 2021 and has made it known that 2021 will likely be his last year as an NRL head coach.
Being from Queensland and having family up North, a return to the Sunshine State could become a possibility once his coaching tenure at the Storm is up. And it's likely the Brisbane Bombers expansion bid team could offer Bellamy a role as a coaching director if granted by the NRL.
But the Storm plan to still keep Bellamy in some sort of capacity at the club, even if he does finish as head coach in 2021.
โEither way, if he is a senior coach or in a different role, I hope he will remain part of the Melbourne Storm for many years to come,โ Tripp said.
โIf it means tailoring a role for him to be closer to family then Iโm open to that. We would work our way through that.
โAt the moment there is no talk of that, our focus is on the task at hand and another finals campaign. We will worry about that stuff postseason.
โItโs going to take at least 12 months to plan for life after Craig if he chooses not to be head coach beyond 2021.
โAt some stage over the summer we will sit down, have a chat and work out whatโs best for Craig and the Melbourne Storm.
โWe would love him to stay on beyond 2021 in any capacity that he could provide value.โ
