Craig Bellamy’s decorated Melbourne Storm coaching tenure to extend into next year

Craig Bellamy will extend his tenure as Melbourne coach to a 24th season after confirming he will remain with the Storm next year.

Bellamy, a seven-time winner of the Dally M coach-of-the-year award, has guided the Storm to 21 finals series and NRL premierships in 2012, 2017 and 2020.

“I’ve always said that I will only keep coaching if the players, coaches and club believe that I still have something to offer,” Bellamy said.

“As mentioned last season, my focus remains on developing our players and helping them learn and grow together as a team.

“Our squad is in a stable position and I’m looking forward to the improvement we can continue to make.

“I also want to ensure by making this decision that I’m not holding back any of our coaches, who continue to play a massive role in the improvement of this team.

“We have a great coaching group who are very capable of stepping up and coaching at senior level.”

Storm chairman Matt Tripp said Bellamy was still “hugely committed” to his role and continued to coach at a “very high standard”.

“We know Craig is as determined as ever to achieve further success,” Tripp said.

“He has the energy and experience to drive Storm forward this season and build on our strong start to the year.

“He leads an excellent group of coaches and performance staff, providing a great support base and giving Craig the best opportunity to focus on his coaching and developing our players.”

Bellamy is set to coach his 600th senior game this season in the Storm’s round 26 match against the Sydney Roosters.