MELBOURNE Storm coach Craig Bellamy yesterday said he would move to end continuing speculation about his future with the National Rugby League premier by making an announcement sooner than he had intended.
Bellamy said he would have preferred more time to mull over his options, with Melbourne and Brisbane vying for his services after his contract expires at the end of next season, but he would make the decision sooner because the speculation was taking the shine off his side's performances.
With Storm's chief executive, Brian Waldron, meeting Bellamy's manager, John Fordham, yesterday and today in Sydney, Bellamy would not go as far as saying the conjecture was proving a distraction. But, he was getting frustrated that with the team turning it around and showing glimpses of its best during the past two rounds, the media focus had remained on him.
"There's been enough speculation in the paper and hopefully in the near future I can get it settled," he said. "I was hoping to take a little bit more time to make a decision but … it's in the paper all the time so it probably needs doing but at the end of the day I'm not going to rush it," Bellamy said.
"… We've played really well the last couple of weeks … that's all I'd rather talk about."
Waldron and Fordham will discuss the Storm's offer to keep the coach many regard as the best in the business in Melbourne. Waldron would not comment on details of the discussion but said the club would not rush Bellamy to a decision because he "deserved his right to take his time".
"We're just going to take our time and he's going to take his time and it will be worked out in due course," Waldron said. "I know it's a bit of a standard answer (and) it doesn't give you much but I really can't enlighten you."
Meanwhile, Storm back-rower Ryan Hoffman said he was expecting the Raiders' in-form half-back, Todd Carney, to stake his claim for the NSW origin berth when the sides clash next Monday.
With Blues coach Bellamy recently declaring the origin half-back position up for grabs, Hoffman said Carney would be primed to make his mark in front of Bellamy.
"Todd Carney's been great. Ever since they sorted out about him staying at the Raiders, his form's been phenomenal. It really has. He's been playing the house down and leading them quite well and I think he'll see the challenge of playing up against Cooper (Cronk), who is the current Australian half-back," Hoffman said.
"He'll be playing in front of the origin coach and I'm sure he's got big plans for a good performance on Monday night and he is somebody we should be aware of."
The view was backed by Cronk, who, as with Hoffman, is in a battle to keep his Kangaroos jersey for next month's Test against New Zealand. "Todd's a wonderful talent. He's been playing first grade for a long time now and I've got nothing but big raps for the kid," Cronk said. "He's a good player. He's leading the team around the paddock and playing some fine footy in the middle of it, so he's doing all the right things and you can only wish a guy like that luck for selection."
■Brisbane will use the buzz of playing at the Gold Coast's new Skilled Park fortress as extra motivation against the Titans tonight.
"It will be like a semi-final," said Brisbane assistant coach Ivan Henjak after representative centre Justin Hodges was cleared to play in the local derby, which is set to pull the biggest crowd to a rugby league game on the Gold Coast.
With AAP
