Half your luck: Bellamy, Cleary roll out red carpet for returning playmakers

Storm coach Craig Bellamy has built one of the game’s most successful coaching careers around the ethos of living in the moment.

After 21 seasons and 549 games at the helm in Melbourne, the master mentor is well aware of the pitfalls of gazing too long in the rear vision mirror or looking too far down the track.

As he prepares for yet another preliminary final and potentially a crack at a fourth premiership, Bellamy is concentrating on the things he can control in the here and now – like plotting the downfall of premiers Penrith at Accor Stadium.

The two sides have formed a great rivalry during the past five years, with the Storm taking down the Panthers in the 2020 grand final before Ivan Cleary’s men took their revenge in an epic preliminary final a year later on their way to the title.

Far from seeking revenge for that 10-6 loss at Suncorp Stadium, Bellamy is focused solely on the fitness of his chief playmaker Jahrome Hughes and the 'one percenters' that could make the difference in a tight contest.

“I wouldn’t say that loss [in 2021] still burns because if you hang on to something like that for two or three years it’s going to take a lot of energy out of you,” Bellamy told media on Thursday.

“You try to get rid of that feeling straight away. It might stay with you for a bit in the off-season but it’s gone when you start the next season.

“I don’t look too far forward or too far back. I only worry about what we do today.”

What the Storm did on Thursday was put Hughes through his paces at their captain’s run, testing the calf injury that kept him out of last weekend’s win over the Roosters.

Youngster Tyran Wishart did a serviceable job in his absence but of the Storm are to move into the big one they need their Kiwi superstar on deck and on song.

“Jahrome got through most of it today and we are really confident he’ll be OK,” Bellamy said.

“He didn’t do it all but what we planned for him to do, he did.

“We won’t play Jahrome if we don’t think he is very, very close to full fitness and I imagine Penrith will do the same with [Jarome] Luai.”

The Panthers’ five-eighth hasn’t played since dislocating his shoulder in Round 26 but all indications are he will take his place alongside superstar No.7 Nathan Cleary.

After a month on the sidelines, Luai is champing at the bit to renew his rivalry with Storm No.6 Cameron Munster, with their ledger locked at 2-2 in 2023 after Penrith won both NRL clashes but Munster’s Maroons beat Luai’s Blues twice in Origin.

"This game was always the one the medical staffed planned for Jarome being back for,” Panthers coach Ivan Cleary said.

“We just had to get to the game which we've been able to do so all systems go.
He was always going to play.

“I've seen a lot of guys at this club do pretty amazing things. That's the way these guys like to do it, they like playing and from the first moment we got the information, the medical staff were confident and he was very confident.

“He's trained with us for two weeks so it all feels pretty normal here.

"We're looking forward to having him back. He's a big part of our team, not just the way he plays but the way he connects people around him and brings energy to our boys.

“You always get some drama this time of the year. I don't know if the anxiety levels go up a bit for everyone but Nathan’s finger was just another little incident but he's OK.

“I felt a little anxious. Thankfully the result was good. It wasn't actually that bad but it was just sort of awkward.”

Both Cleary and Luai are sure to have figured prominently in Bellamy’s planning sessions and were no doubt represented when the Storm’s back-up players donned Panthers jerseys in a simulated match play session.

“We do that four or five times during the year, so it’s nothing new,” Bellamy said.

“When we face good opposition we remind the players who we are playing with our reserve grade guys wearing the gear.

"I’ve been doing it for 10 years.

“It’s just a little reminder of who we are playing.”