# Craig Bellamy | Matty's First Ever Podcast!

An episode of [Backstage with Cooper & Matty Johns](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1729949087), 20 May 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/d7a60aed-0ec1-4a17-9f87-b248003b7796/77b5420e-14c7-47f1-a997-b4500001ebc3/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=676e8df2-b284-47a4-9fbd-b248003b77ad

Blast from the past — Matty’s first ever podcast with legendary Melbourne Storm head coach Craig Bellamy ahead of his 500th NRL game. Subscribe, Watch, and Follow Catch the full episode on YouTube and stay updated by following us on social media: Linktree: Backstage with Cooper & Matty Contact Us For any enquiries, email us at: contact@johnsmedia.com.au See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: This is my first podcast and a pretty good one.
[0:02] Speaker 2: First up, I catch up with iconic Melbourne Storm coach
[0:05] Speaker 2: Craig Bellamy, just ahead of his five hundredth an our
[0:09] Speaker 2: real game coach.
[0:10] Speaker 1: Quite unbelievable.
[0:11] Speaker 2: But it's not all about winning titles or all the
[0:13] Speaker 2: great players he coached. I want to talk about his
[0:16] Speaker 2: playing career and his career as assistant coach under Tim
[0:19] Speaker 2: Sheens and Wayne Bennett, the things that have really shaped
[0:23] Speaker 2: the man he is today.
[0:24] Speaker 3: Enjoy great and so.
[0:27] Speaker 2: Maybe hey, young mate, Okay, yeah, yeah, season number twenty here, yep,
[0:33] Speaker 2: four hundred ninety eight games coach, when you came in
[0:37] Speaker 2: at two thousand and three, if someone said you're going
[0:41] Speaker 2: to have ten years here, when.
[0:42] Speaker 3: You been thrilled? Yeah, without a doubt.
[0:45] Speaker 4: That was obviously my first head coaching job, and you know,
[0:49] Speaker 4: there was a bit of a I suppose a record
[0:53] Speaker 4: around then.
[0:53] Speaker 3: There was.
[0:53] Speaker 4: You know, it didn't take much to get sacked, it
[0:55] Speaker 4: didn't take much to get changed over, and I didn't
[0:59] Speaker 4: sort of think too much about that, just decided to
[1:00] Speaker 4: put my head down and then do the best I
[1:03] Speaker 4: can and see what happens.
[1:05] Speaker 2: I don't want to talk today about sort of year
[1:06] Speaker 2: by year with the storm and all the great players.
[1:09] Speaker 2: Because you're speaking about that a thousand times. But how
[1:12] Speaker 2: would Craig Bell me the coach, describe Craig bellam me
[1:17] Speaker 2: the player I.
[1:19] Speaker 4: Used to try out? That would be the nice to
[1:22] Speaker 4: see they'd probably say about me as a player. I reckon,
[1:24] Speaker 4: But yeah, like I say, I wasn't a very skilful player.
[1:29] Speaker 4: I wasn't very big or you know that physical, to
[1:32] Speaker 4: be quite honest.
[1:32] Speaker 3: But I was fit.
[1:33] Speaker 4: You know, that was probably my strength as a player.
[1:37] Speaker 4: So now I think I was try That would be
[1:42] Speaker 4: for the nicest thing they'd say about me.
[1:44] Speaker 2: Amazing team developed into an amazing era, a green machine.
[1:49] Speaker 2: It's funny how your your career and Wayne's career intertwined
[1:53] Speaker 2: so much. What was your relationship like was Warne in
[1:57] Speaker 2: eighty seven as you were a player and he is
[1:59] Speaker 2: a coach.
[1:59] Speaker 4: Yeah, we got on really good and I played a
[2:03] Speaker 4: little bit of the first grade early and then I
[2:05] Speaker 4: actually just came Michelle, so I was sort of was
[2:09] Speaker 4: out for the year but halfway through the year. But again,
[2:13] Speaker 4: he'd be a guy that was described me as like
[2:15] Speaker 4: a hard try and you know he used to like
[2:18] Speaker 4: like that fit guys in his team.
[2:22] Speaker 3: Yeah, we got on really good.
[2:25] Speaker 4: But I was really disappointed that I didn't sort of
[2:30] Speaker 4: finished whole year with him because you know, when I
[2:32] Speaker 4: got injured, I wasn't doing any much training at all.
[2:35] Speaker 4: But I learned a lot of him early. But I
[2:39] Speaker 4: haven't said that I learned a lot of time as well.
[2:41] Speaker 4: And as I said, they, you know, the too of
[2:44] Speaker 4: them together made a real good combination.
[2:47] Speaker 2: Your first coaching job with the NRL, you take control
[2:50] Speaker 2: of the under twenty ones at Canberra.
[2:52] Speaker 3: How'd you go? Yeah?
[2:54] Speaker 4: We made I think we made the semi finals and
[2:56] Speaker 4: got knocked out in the first game.
[2:58] Speaker 3: I think I had your coach him.
[3:00] Speaker 1: But when you look back there, how did you coach
[3:02] Speaker 1: that slide?
[3:04] Speaker 4: I remember I was a cranky bastard, but on some
[3:07] Speaker 4: of the other blakes, but yeah, yeah, there was some
[3:10] Speaker 4: We had some good good kids there too, like Simon
[3:13] Speaker 4: Wolf and Luke Devuco you know, they come through there. Yeah,
[3:18] Speaker 4: I must say I found that a bit of fun
[3:21] Speaker 4: as well. With the twenty ones and shows. You'd always
[3:24] Speaker 4: sort of, you know, we'd come in and you know,
[3:28] Speaker 4: he'd say, you know, can you come at an hour
[3:30] Speaker 4: earlier to train today? So we can have a bit
[3:32] Speaker 4: of a chat about what you think about him, And
[3:34] Speaker 4: he was always asked me questions about him and give
[3:36] Speaker 4: me some advice too on coaching, which was obviously really
[3:40] Speaker 4: handy as well.
[3:40] Speaker 3: So but I really I remember more than any girls.
[3:45] Speaker 4: I probably enjoyed the year more than and your girl's,
[3:48] Speaker 4: which is a bit strange for.
[3:50] Speaker 3: Me with your case.
[3:52] Speaker 2: And you've been lucky for that, like to work with Wayne,
[3:55] Speaker 2: who's a great relationship coach.
[3:58] Speaker 1: Man manager shouns you the innovative. What did you learn
[4:02] Speaker 1: from Tim?
[4:03] Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I reckon I had a really good education.
[4:05] Speaker 4: I was very lucky to have education like that you
[4:08] Speaker 4: had to have. I think it was five years under
[4:12] Speaker 4: Tim and then five under Wayne. Yeah, I don't think
[4:16] Speaker 4: you get too much of a better education then. But
[4:19] Speaker 4: having said that, they were so which was probably a
[4:21] Speaker 4: good thing. That were just so different, as you said,
[4:23] Speaker 4: you know, like Wayne was a very as you said, relationship,
[4:29] Speaker 4: it was Yeah, it was about effort, it was about
[4:32] Speaker 4: it was about the team. Tim was quite technical and tactical,
[4:37] Speaker 4: which was it was great as well. So I think
[4:40] Speaker 4: I got sort of the best of both worlds there.
[4:42] Speaker 4: And but yeah, I'll always be so grateful to those
[4:46] Speaker 4: two guys on on how they helped help me and
[4:50] Speaker 4: how how they helped I suppose my coaching career.
[4:54] Speaker 2: Not ninety eight when you went to the Broncos. What
[4:56] Speaker 2: what was what was your role there?
[4:58] Speaker 4: I was a performance coordinator, so I was doing strength conditioning. Yeah,
[5:01] Speaker 4: but like I said, the way and I said, I
[5:04] Speaker 4: you know, like that was always a real interest for me,
[5:06] Speaker 4: and I'd done it in when Sean McCray first left Canbra.
[5:10] Speaker 3: That's when the first full time.
[5:12] Speaker 4: Job I was coaching reserve grade, but I was the
[5:16] Speaker 4: performance manager for the first grade in Canbra. So so
[5:22] Speaker 4: so I said the way, I said, mate, I know
[5:25] Speaker 4: how to get a footy tow and fit to play,
[5:27] Speaker 4: and so I'm confident in that.
[5:28] Speaker 3: But I'm not a.
[5:30] Speaker 4: Great guy, you know with the weights.
[5:34] Speaker 3: I wouldn't be confident doing this.
[5:35] Speaker 4: Such a good job there, But the Bronco has had
[5:38] Speaker 4: a guy there called Dan Baker, who's, you know, one
[5:40] Speaker 4: of the best strength coaches I've ever seen. So so Wayne,
[5:44] Speaker 4: you know, he said, obviously knew what he was doing
[5:47] Speaker 4: all along, you know, he said, mate, you then look
[5:50] Speaker 4: after that, you just worried about getting the fit. So yeah,
[5:53] Speaker 4: So so that was my role there to start, and
[5:57] Speaker 4: through the pre seasons I was really busy, you know,
[5:59] Speaker 4: obviously organizing this and organizing that and then run the program.
[6:03] Speaker 4: But I found during the season that sort of sort
[6:07] Speaker 4: of Wayne sort of took up more over then, and
[6:10] Speaker 4: you know, I didn't have that much to.
[6:11] Speaker 3: Do, so I just started try and help with the coach.
[6:15] Speaker 4: And because you didn't have any assistant coaches, which was strange,
[6:17] Speaker 4: he just done on his own. So and the strain
[6:21] Speaker 4: thing he never did any work on the opposition, and
[6:26] Speaker 4: which Tim knew he knew when you know, like he
[6:31] Speaker 4: just knew everything about the opposition. So it was that
[6:33] Speaker 4: that was a bit strange to me. So I started
[6:35] Speaker 4: doing a little bit of, you know, stuff on the
[6:39] Speaker 4: opposition and just give him some notes and whatever. I
[6:42] Speaker 4: remember one day I went to him and I said, Ma,
[6:45] Speaker 4: why don't you do any like, why don't you watch
[6:47] Speaker 4: any opposition or give it the players any or something
[6:50] Speaker 4: on the opposition, And the Clint East would stare he
[6:55] Speaker 4: sort of standing at me. He looked down and he said, hey,
[6:57] Speaker 4: just listen there, Craig. He said, we play good. The
[7:01] Speaker 4: opposition's going.
[7:02] Speaker 3: To have to play real good to buddh Us and.
[7:03] Speaker 4: Then he just walked away, and I'm thinking, yeah, there's
[7:06] Speaker 4: Talus and Langer and webb Ke and Renooth and I'm thinking, yeah, okay,
[7:10] Speaker 4: he's probably he's probably right there. But so that's how
[7:13] Speaker 4: I sort of got into a little bit of the
[7:14] Speaker 4: coach and at the bronco So I started burn the
[7:17] Speaker 4: I started doing that the opposition, and I just slowly
[7:21] Speaker 4: be surely, I sort of I done a bit more
[7:24] Speaker 4: and more of it, and yeah, so that's how I
[7:26] Speaker 4: end up burning sort of the coach.
[7:28] Speaker 1: Talking to Gordy.
[7:29] Speaker 2: From what I understand about Wayne, Wayne's always a good
[7:32] Speaker 2: cop and the assistant of times the henchmen. Gordy says,
[7:37] Speaker 2: when they played ordinary or he was filthy, he just say, Craig,
[7:40] Speaker 2: give him a spray.
[7:41] Speaker 1: He said, they knew they're in strife. When he got
[7:44] Speaker 1: you to lad on the voice.
[7:46] Speaker 4: Yeah, he ain't done it a couple of times, you know,
[7:48] Speaker 4: through my five years out there. I remember the first time.
[7:50] Speaker 4: He know, I got a bit of a shock actually,
[7:52] Speaker 4: but but you know, we were just disappointed that I
[7:56] Speaker 4: can't remember we played actually, but we got got a
[7:59] Speaker 4: bit of a touch up and yeah, so he said, yeah,
[8:02] Speaker 4: that's what he said, just give you can take them.
[8:05] Speaker 4: So I just meant to be sploying. And you know
[8:07] Speaker 4: it's when I probably didn't get knocked out boy Gordio
[8:09] Speaker 4: or someone. But anyway, I say he was like him
[8:13] Speaker 4: and like Tim, you know, that was just smart guys,
[8:15] Speaker 4: a real experience and they just knew what to do
[8:18] Speaker 4: at the right time.
[8:19] Speaker 2: What did you learn about great players about catching great
[8:22] Speaker 2: players from your time at the Broncos.
[8:24] Speaker 4: Yeah, and Wayne give me.
[8:28] Speaker 1: A real good tip there, like real early.
[8:31] Speaker 3: In it in my time there.
[8:33] Speaker 4: I remember we're doing some pre season training. We're doing
[8:35] Speaker 4: a bit of a warm up and then so that
[8:37] Speaker 4: they're just doing a bit of stretching and we were
[8:40] Speaker 4: at the at the Red Hill training ground there. I'm
[8:44] Speaker 4: looking around and you oh, they're doing amstring stretcher. I
[8:46] Speaker 4: can't remember what it was. And I look over and
[8:48] Speaker 4: he's out leaning on the fence. There's sub sub Blake
[8:54] Speaker 4: walking past, and he's having the yard to display everybody
[8:56] Speaker 4: else's stretcher and the house to lean on the fence
[8:58] Speaker 4: talking to display.
[9:00] Speaker 3: And Wayne must have seen me.
[9:01] Speaker 4: I was going to go over it because I may
[9:02] Speaker 4: have got two weeks into my career at the Broncos.
[9:05] Speaker 4: So you know, I was going to say, yeah, you
[9:08] Speaker 4: needed to be not with this.
[9:09] Speaker 3: I was going.
[9:10] Speaker 4: So I had an over to David chat and then Wayne
[9:12] Speaker 4: pulled me up. He said, where are you going? I said,
[9:14] Speaker 4: I'm just going to get out to do some stretching.
[9:16] Speaker 3: Mate.
[9:16] Speaker 4: He said, just leave my lane, mate, that's what he does.
[9:19] Speaker 4: And that was it was good advice.
[9:21] Speaker 3: I reckon. You know, I probably haven't gone to that length,
[9:23] Speaker 3: but yeah, I reckon.
[9:25] Speaker 4: There's some those great players, you know, they know what
[9:29] Speaker 4: it takes to get, you know, for them to do that,
[9:33] Speaker 4: to be prepared for their best, you know, so sometimes
[9:37] Speaker 4: you might give him a little hint, but other times.
[9:39] Speaker 3: Just just leave them to themselves.
[9:41] Speaker 2: Okay, take a lightning quick break and be back with
[9:44] Speaker 2: more with belly ache. I don't know whether this is
[9:46] Speaker 2: the truth or it's just become legend, but two thousand
[9:50] Speaker 2: and two Raiders looking for a coach, and they interview
[9:52] Speaker 2: you for the job until you've basically got the job,
[9:55] Speaker 2: and then Matt Elliott comes in after you and they
[9:57] Speaker 2: ring you into you sorry, we've changed out.
[10:00] Speaker 4: I actually got driven at the airport when I had
[10:03] Speaker 4: the interview and they said, mate, there's you'll basically get it.
[10:08] Speaker 4: We just got to interview someone else, but you'll get it.
[10:11] Speaker 4: Then three days later I got the phone call. Yeah,
[10:13] Speaker 4: so but yeah, did you react? Oh no, I was
[10:17] Speaker 4: just really disappointed actually, but yeah, I haven't said that
[10:20] Speaker 4: that those things happened and the raisers at the time,
[10:23] Speaker 4: they had to make the decision on new they thought
[10:26] Speaker 4: was gonna be best for the job. And yeah, like
[10:29] Speaker 4: they things happened.
[10:30] Speaker 2: I can imagine people would be sitting in their lundry
[10:32] Speaker 2: and queamy and shedding the tea when they hear that.
[10:35] Speaker 1: What about the Melbourne storm? Did the storm in you
[10:38] Speaker 1: for you.
[10:38] Speaker 3: For a job?
[10:39] Speaker 1: Or they just off here the job?
[10:41] Speaker 4: John Ruba just ran me up and basically offered me
[10:43] Speaker 4: the job. So I went and had a bit of
[10:45] Speaker 4: a chat chat with him. I lived in Bridgbane, a
[10:48] Speaker 4: place called the Gap, and so we I met him
[10:53] Speaker 4: a cafe there and we had a bit of a
[10:54] Speaker 4: chat and see I'm the good and I come down
[10:56] Speaker 4: that look around and I had not offer two off
[11:00] Speaker 4: the Tigers and I knocked that back because I at
[11:06] Speaker 4: that time, Yeah, my wife wanted the kids to finish
[11:11] Speaker 4: school before we moved anywhere, so she wasn't going to
[11:14] Speaker 4: come down, so I wasn't keen on moving away from
[11:17] Speaker 4: the kids. But when I did knock that job back,
[11:21] Speaker 4: I felt as if Esily felt you knock jobs back. Yeah,
[11:27] Speaker 4: I might not get off it again, you know, So
[11:29] Speaker 4: I was very lucky.
[11:30] Speaker 2: You know.
[11:30] Speaker 4: About six weeks later, like the Melbourne offer came and
[11:34] Speaker 4: I was pretty keen to take it.
[11:35] Speaker 2: Then I asked you before about Craig believing the coach,
[11:40] Speaker 2: talking about Craig Bellameter the player, What about the Craig
[11:43] Speaker 2: Bellamie twenty twenty two. How did you look back on
[11:46] Speaker 2: the Craig bella mid two thousand and three.
[11:48] Speaker 3: Yeah, I was a bit a bit going how when
[11:52] Speaker 3: you know.
[11:52] Speaker 4: Like I've always sort of been honestly, I think, but
[11:57] Speaker 4: sometimes I suppose, you know, expressing things the players, you know,
[12:03] Speaker 4: it was the rough edge, I suppose instead of doing
[12:06] Speaker 4: in a bit more mature way sort of you know,
[12:10] Speaker 4: revndered me splowing straight away instead of probably not thinking
[12:13] Speaker 4: about it for a bit then then doing it.
[12:15] Speaker 3: You know.
[12:15] Speaker 4: But the know, I think I've learned, you know, we
[12:17] Speaker 4: all learned from our mistakes. But having said that, I
[12:20] Speaker 4: think and yeah, I probably haven't sort of said this before,
[12:24] Speaker 4: but I think when I first came here, I had
[12:28] Speaker 4: to be a bit like that. I just seen to
[12:31] Speaker 4: I know this is probably a horrible word, but I
[12:33] Speaker 4: reckon that we had some softness in us at that time,
[12:37] Speaker 4: and just watching some of the footy they played the
[12:40] Speaker 4: TWL months before and the way that you know, they
[12:45] Speaker 4: turned up to preseason train and I just I just
[12:50] Speaker 4: felt that, you know, we need the tough en up
[12:52] Speaker 4: here before we worry too much about the tactic.
[12:55] Speaker 3: And technical side of the game, you know.
[12:57] Speaker 4: So so I was pretty to do that. And you know,
[13:02] Speaker 4: I think, with all due respect, I don't give yourself
[13:04] Speaker 4: rapid I to think I was right as well. And
[13:06] Speaker 4: I think that that first pre season was a tough preseason,
[13:08] Speaker 4: but I think it needed to be.
[13:10] Speaker 2: Talking about toughing them up. The infamous Melbourne Storm Army camp.
[13:14] Speaker 2: A lot of sides try to emulate it, they just can't.
[13:18] Speaker 1: Was that was that your idea?
[13:20] Speaker 4: Yeah, well, actually we've done something like that in Brisbane,
[13:22] Speaker 4: but it was only like an overnight thing. We only
[13:26] Speaker 4: did it the once while I was up there, and
[13:28] Speaker 4: you know that was Wayne's idea.
[13:31] Speaker 3: So yeah, I really liked the idea of that.
[13:33] Speaker 4: And so when I come down, I just asked a
[13:36] Speaker 4: few questions on who I might be able to sort
[13:38] Speaker 4: of do something like that. So I was put onto
[13:40] Speaker 4: a couple of guys that used to work at the
[13:43] Speaker 4: say Jews and so and a little company that they
[13:47] Speaker 4: were doing that with. And and we're still doing that.
[13:50] Speaker 4: We don't the first year I was in. We've done
[13:52] Speaker 4: one before Christmas again, So it's it's been really iron
[13:56] Speaker 4: it's been really good for us. I reckon, sometimes it
[14:00] Speaker 4: takes you twelve you can new player in your club.
[14:02] Speaker 4: Sometimes it takes it, you know, like six months to
[14:05] Speaker 4: really work out what his mentality is on the different
[14:09] Speaker 4: parts of the game and the different parts of preparation
[14:11] Speaker 4: and training. But those guys, they give us a report
[14:15] Speaker 4: on every individual, and they've been wrong a couple of times,
[14:20] Speaker 4: but I reckon, ninety five percent of the time they've
[14:22] Speaker 4: been you know, they sum up the individual really well.
[14:26] Speaker 4: So that gives us a good start on how we
[14:29] Speaker 4: how we need to catch them.
[14:30] Speaker 2: If a player doesn't come up to scratch, is there
[14:33] Speaker 2: a chance he doesn't get off of the contract or
[14:35] Speaker 2: you know, the chance of cementing the spot here.
[14:38] Speaker 1: Have you had that situation?
[14:39] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, without doubt.
[14:40] Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, I mean we only sort of send that
[14:43] Speaker 4: the new blokes to the club and you know, some
[14:45] Speaker 4: from our foother to him, but certainly some of them
[14:49] Speaker 4: have already signed up. So but at least then we
[14:52] Speaker 4: know the areas that we need to work on them.
[14:55] Speaker 4: You know, we need to do this with them, or
[14:57] Speaker 4: do that with them, or we need to handle them
[14:59] Speaker 4: in this way. And as I said, you know, they've
[15:02] Speaker 4: been wrong a couple of times, but they're not wrong
[15:04] Speaker 4: often and usually you know, the traits they pick up
[15:09] Speaker 4: in those three days, two nights, it's usually it's usually
[15:13] Speaker 4: spot on.
[15:14] Speaker 1: Who's been the best, who's been the most impressive on
[15:16] Speaker 1: the camp?
[15:20] Speaker 4: Probably no surprise Dalphanukan. You know, like he's preparation. I've
[15:26] Speaker 4: never seen anyone prepared like him in my time as
[15:29] Speaker 4: a player or a coach, you know, so you know,
[15:31] Speaker 4: he was really good, actually a guy that done that one.
[15:36] Speaker 4: There's a little award at the end for the you know,
[15:41] Speaker 4: the best guy guy on camp, and that was Josh
[15:44] Speaker 4: King this year. And now the guys have told me
[15:47] Speaker 4: that there has been too many more impressive than him,
[15:49] Speaker 4: So we think where you know, he's going to be
[15:51] Speaker 4: a good play for us.
[15:53] Speaker 1: Sounds like mate, you a little bit like Wayne, your
[15:55] Speaker 1: value value effort. That's truly, Yeah, that's right.
[15:58] Speaker 2: Just on Wayne again, first end final against the Bronco
[16:01] Speaker 2: as your favorites, but they knock you over?
[16:03] Speaker 3: Does it?
[16:04] Speaker 1: Does it hurt?
[16:05] Speaker 3: Honestly?
[16:05] Speaker 1: Does it hurt losing to Wayne More?
[16:09] Speaker 4: No, not really, it's probably I wouldn't say it's ana,
[16:13] Speaker 4: but probably earlier in your career it probably wasn't. Yeah,
[16:16] Speaker 4: And because I'd be expected, because you know, he's up
[16:19] Speaker 4: on the pedestal, you know for me type think so
[16:22] Speaker 4: oh yeah, you know, like as I said, I'd always
[16:26] Speaker 4: be grateful for the opportunity to give me at the
[16:28] Speaker 4: Broncos and what I learned and yeah, so.
[16:31] Speaker 2: Yeah, Broncos talking about the Bronx. So they often flirt
[16:35] Speaker 2: with you. They've tried to get you there a few
[16:37] Speaker 2: times in two thousand and eight they got real close.
[16:41] Speaker 2: Looking back on that would have been it would have
[16:43] Speaker 2: been a terrible mistake.
[16:46] Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't know, like I've still got a yeah,
[16:49] Speaker 4: like I still love the Raisers. You know, you know,
[16:51] Speaker 4: I was there sixteen years, and I must say that
[16:54] Speaker 4: the five years I had the Broncos it was, you know,
[16:56] Speaker 4: it was really enjoyable too. I love my time with
[16:59] Speaker 4: the Broncos and they'll always have a special place in
[17:02] Speaker 4: the herd as well.
[17:02] Speaker 3: You know.
[17:03] Speaker 4: And as you said in two thousand and eight, I
[17:06] Speaker 4: was Jesus, it was that close to going back, to
[17:08] Speaker 4: be quite honest.
[17:10] Speaker 1: What stopped ship? Was it the fact that it really
[17:13] Speaker 1: will always be Wayne's club?
[17:15] Speaker 3: No, not really, Like.
[17:19] Speaker 4: Yeah, there was a couple of a couple of little
[17:21] Speaker 4: things that sort of changed it.
[17:25] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[17:25] Speaker 4: I remember like when he first left, I felt a
[17:29] Speaker 4: bit sad in that as well, like because exactly what
[17:32] Speaker 4: you said there, you know, like to me, it was
[17:35] Speaker 4: his club. It is his club. You know, he's been
[17:37] Speaker 4: there from the start, and then he's leaving, you know,
[17:41] Speaker 4: like that's that's sad. You know.
[17:46] Speaker 1: Now he's trying to pinch your players again.
[17:47] Speaker 4: Yeah, he's got a feel of it. Yeah, But like
[17:50] Speaker 4: I say, it's yeah, like it could have quite easy.
[17:55] Speaker 4: I could have ended up back there. But you know,
[17:57] Speaker 4: I think at the end, I'll always again be really
[18:00] Speaker 4: grateful and appreciative of John Rubau and and the Storm
[18:06] Speaker 4: giving me my first chance as headkch. I know, I
[18:09] Speaker 4: got a couple other no I've got enough from the Tigers.
[18:12] Speaker 4: But you know, even in the tough times here, they're
[18:15] Speaker 4: always supported you and and you're always going to go
[18:19] Speaker 4: through tough tough times when you're a footy club.
[18:22] Speaker 1: Another quick break and we're back with my chat with Craig.
[18:26] Speaker 2: In the last fifteen years, I reckon the storm's dominant
[18:29] Speaker 2: all now, the ear of the storms. But it's been
[18:32] Speaker 2: eulogized about four or five times. They said right out
[18:35] Speaker 2: there runs over, but you keep on top?
[18:39] Speaker 1: Why what what? When you look at what? Why do
[18:42] Speaker 1: you blokes stay on top?
[18:46] Speaker 3: Yeah?
[18:47] Speaker 4: I think the players that we get in the club,
[18:50] Speaker 4: and probably not not just only players, but people. You know,
[18:54] Speaker 4: we want to get good people here. And good people
[18:58] Speaker 4: are people that are going to care about the what
[19:00] Speaker 4: do you do? We're going to care about their teammates.
[19:03] Speaker 4: And I think, you know, we try and be you know,
[19:11] Speaker 4: not not hard, but look the quality of person that
[19:14] Speaker 4: we want to bring in, and we're pretty strict on.
[19:17] Speaker 3: That with ourselves.
[19:17] Speaker 4: You know, we don't want to and I think, you know,
[19:20] Speaker 4: when I sit down and talk to someone, I can
[19:23] Speaker 4: get a bit of an idea of what they're like
[19:26] Speaker 4: as people. Are they going to fit in are they
[19:28] Speaker 4: going to care about the organization. They're going to care
[19:31] Speaker 4: about their foodio, They're going to care about their teammates.
[19:34] Speaker 4: So that's the main thing for me, and I think
[19:37] Speaker 4: while we bring players in and staff in that have
[19:41] Speaker 4: got that mentality, I think, you know, we'll always you know,
[19:45] Speaker 4: we'll always be able to play and perform to our capabilities.
[19:50] Speaker 4: You know that that's not always going to be to
[19:53] Speaker 4: win a premiership or whatever it is, but at least
[19:56] Speaker 4: if you're performing to your capabilities, well then you're doing
[20:00] Speaker 4: a pretty good job and there's a real good chance
[20:02] Speaker 4: you're going to be successful.
[20:03] Speaker 2: Before we finish up, I got to ask you being
[20:06] Speaker 2: proud of players I saw Cameron Munster.
[20:08] Speaker 1: Before, he just looks like a completely different bloke.
[20:13] Speaker 4: Yeah, ever since the episode that at Nursa he went
[20:18] Speaker 4: into road for a month, and I must say, like
[20:24] Speaker 4: I didn't didn't know whether you know that he's at a. Yeah,
[20:28] Speaker 4: he's a great character and with all due respect, you
[20:32] Speaker 4: like he's like a favorite as well because he does care.
[20:37] Speaker 4: He's got a bit of looseness about him, obvious thing
[20:40] Speaker 4: and a bit of Alaric and about him, but he's
[20:42] Speaker 4: a likable Alarican but he's got a genuine care for
[20:45] Speaker 4: his teammates. He has, and ye know, it's the best
[20:49] Speaker 4: thing that's sort of happened to him gone in the
[20:51] Speaker 4: rehab he's come out. I can tell he's a different guy.
[20:55] Speaker 4: He's still got the likable Larry and about him, but
[21:01] Speaker 4: he's I think he's sort of seen the light light
[21:04] Speaker 4: now in that you know, it's he's not going to
[21:07] Speaker 4: be a foody player forever and he needs to make
[21:10] Speaker 4: the most of it. Now he's just become a father
[21:13] Speaker 4: and you can just tell there that you know, that's
[21:16] Speaker 4: probably made a difference as well, or the rehabers has
[21:20] Speaker 4: helped make a difference to him. So while he's still
[21:24] Speaker 4: trained house down, the guys still look.
[21:26] Speaker 3: Up to him.
[21:27] Speaker 4: You know, he's as I said, he's still got, you know,
[21:31] Speaker 4: he's chirpy most of the time, but he's just got
[21:35] Speaker 4: there's just something different about him, and you can see
[21:38] Speaker 4: it in his body shapey. He's certainly lost some weight,
[21:42] Speaker 4: but there's that bit more determination, a bit more focus,
[21:46] Speaker 4: and a bit more reality that you know, he's twenty
[21:50] Speaker 4: seven year old now, it's not going to be here forever,
[21:52] Speaker 4: so he needs to make the most of it.
[21:53] Speaker 1: He's proud of his six pack. Yeah, that's the first
[21:56] Speaker 1: thing he is.
[21:58] Speaker 3: I haven't seen him with a shirt on all summer. Believable.
[22:01] Speaker 1: Craig going to be coaching in twenty twenty five.
[22:05] Speaker 3: No, probably not.
[22:06] Speaker 1: I don't think you've been saying that.
[22:08] Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[22:11] Speaker 4: Like I said, yeah, I've got a decision to make soon. Actually,
[22:13] Speaker 4: to be quite nice. So so if if I do
[22:17] Speaker 4: give up the full full time role, you know, that
[22:20] Speaker 4: gives the club plenty of time to get a replacement.
[22:23] Speaker 1: If you don't pick it up, what would you do?
[22:26] Speaker 1: Lawn bowls?
[22:27] Speaker 3: You play golf? No, actually not a lot these days.
[22:32] Speaker 4: But yeah, I'll still be involved in a part time right,
[22:36] Speaker 4: So there'll be a couple of different things. I'll be
[22:38] Speaker 4: working with the coaches a bit, but I think I'll
[22:40] Speaker 4: be doing a bit of corporate stuff as well, and hopefully, yeah,
[22:45] Speaker 4: just helping the club out in general. But it won't
[22:47] Speaker 4: Boos obviously, his full time mampoo has flat out, So
[22:51] Speaker 4: I'll probably I think, you know, when I do retire,
[22:55] Speaker 4: I'll probably head up to Cool and Gather. I really
[22:58] Speaker 4: like it up there. My daughter lives up there, so
[23:00] Speaker 4: that's a place I'm retire. But it's close to the
[23:03] Speaker 4: airport there, so it's not too far to come back
[23:05] Speaker 4: down when I need to. And but I say, you know,
[23:09] Speaker 4: it's just got to make that this season in the
[23:10] Speaker 4: next month or two, and we'll go from there. Thanks
[23:14] Speaker 4: for much for the season, BILLI thanks, mate, appreciate it.
[23:16] Speaker 3: Thank you well. Guys.
[23:17] Speaker 2: I hope you enjoyed that one with Craig Bella me today.
[23:19] Speaker 2: Quite an unbelievable story and one an achievement five hundred games.
[23:23] Speaker 2: Don't stress, guys, we have another John's Family podcast coming
[23:27] Speaker 2: up on Friday, Pttrition and the Boards speak to you
[23:29] Speaker 2: then

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