Like Joseph Stalin, Craig Bellamy and Des Hasler had a plan to claw their way to the top of the pile, writes Andrew Stevenson.

The first five-year plan was Stalin's. His aim? To drag Russia off the bottom of the table and shape them into a side to be feared come September. "Either we do it, or they crush us," Stalin* said in 1931.

Cricket coaches such as John Buchanan favour the learned insights of Chinese philosophers such as Sun Tzu but Stalin's might-is-right approach seems more appropriate to the martial endeavours of rugby league, and so it is with coaches Craig Bellamy and Des Hasler.

Both took over clubs which, while not as crook as Russia in 1928, had seen better days - Melbourne ran 10th in 2002 and Manly 14th in 2003. Both began their tasks adamant it would take them five years to get back to the top. Both found themselves in a grand final in their fourth season, a year before they really expected to feature, only to return the following year.

The next part of the script is yet to be written. Bellamy's Storm responded to their 15-8 defeat at the hands of Brisbane in 2006 by claiming the minor premiership again in 2007 and then thumping Manly 34-8 in the grand final: a five-year plan that saw the side come to perfect and powerful maturity.

What is Hasler's destiny - a fourth-year defeat and fifth-year victory? Manly now believe last year's grand-final appearance probably did come a year too early, admits recruitment manager Noel Cleal.

Owner Max Delmege, who has been signing the cheques to sustain Hasler's vision from day one, shares the view. "I think the scoreboard reflected that: we probably had a bit of stage fright," he said. Delmege was not alone in thinking his year was made just by making the grand final - a belief which appears to no longer exist in the club.

In 2003, Bellamy's first season, the Storm were bundled out of the semi-finals 30-0 by the Bulldogs; in 2004 the same team got them 43-18 at the same point. In 2005 they lost in the semi-finals again.

Hasler took longer to rise, undoubtedly because he had less to work with. He began in a demountable at Brookvale. Cleal recalled: "When Des and I first came back, we had something like 22 players on our books, of which three or four went overseas. We started with only 18 or 19 blokes on our books and a staff of four or five. I remember thinking at the time, 'What have I done here?'."

Improvement was slow to come. Manly limped into 13th spot in 2004, scraped into eighth in 2005 and fifth in 2006 - but in both years were dispatched without winning a single finals match. Still, the drive to the top of the table - in both cases - has followed the course of an immutable progression.

Manly forward Jason King was there for the whole ride. "Dessie came along with some fresh ideas and they took a while to come into effect, like any change would. To his credit, what he brought in has really worked and he's got the club to the pointy end of the competition," King said. "We seem to have learnt a lot from the previous years and built on it rather than taking steps forwards and then going backwards. We've managed to build on it every year."

Watching from afar, Knights coach Brian Smith has noted the slow progression up the ladder of both clubs. "It appears that might be the old hare and tortoise," he said. "There's probably a message there for everyone in the fact they've managed to stay at the top after getting there a bit more slowly … a message for chief executives, chairmen and boards."

Smith pointed out that two teams - Penrith in 2003 and Wests Tigers in 2005 - won a title without building in the sustained manner of Hasler and Bellamy. Neither club was able to sustain its position at the top of the ladder.

"It's almost impossible to build what they've built in a year or two," he said, agreeing that the task of righting a football club was akin to turning a container vessel: slowly does it.

"But you might be doing it in the dark and you don't know which way you're turning the ship: I don't think there's anyone who can show you a perfect route in this and, generally, you have to make some detours along the way," Smith said.

What you must do, argues Cleal, is recruit well - both at the top and the bottom.

"Des stipulated from day one no dickheads in the joint and we do a lot more screening than other clubs do," Cleal said. "We've bought cleverly at the bottom. Five years ago had anyone heard of Steve Matai, Matt Ballin or Michael Bani? And we've bought off the top shelf as well: we bought the Lyons and Orfords and Kites."

Melbourne, too, bought extremely well, picking up players other clubs didn't want or couldn't get results out of - such as Jeff Lima, Steve Turner, Brett White and Jeremy Smith - while also unearthing a rich vein of promising young signings, Billy Slater, Cam Smith, Greg Inglis and Israel Folau, for example.

Similarly, Manly have polished the talents of the Stewart brothers, Glenn and Brett, while getting extra mileage out of forwards such as Glenn Hall and Mark Bryant.

"It's a big project to get everything right. Your recruitment's got to be right, your development has got to be right, and you have to get the right coaching staff," said Neil Henry, now settling into the coach's box at North Queensland. And, considering the salary cap, which will shuffle another five players out of Melbourne's door and three from Manly, the sides might well be as good as you can assemble.

"When you look at both rosters you probably think, as far as balanced teams go, those two are the best in the competition - and also as good a roster as you can build under the cap," Henry said.

* Stalin had something on Bellamy and Hasler; he finished his first five-year plan in four seasons.