‘Fire in the belly’: Bellamy to fight on with Storm

Craig Bellamy won’t quit his post and is committed to coaching on for the rest of the NRL season and turning around the Melbourne Storm’s fortunes.

That was the heartwarming news about the legendary coach relayed by Storm general manager of football Frank Ponissi after Melbourne’s 28-10 loss to the Dolphins on Friday night in Brisbane, a club record seventh defeat in a row for last year’s grand finalists.

Bellamy, 66, has been diagnosed with an unspecified neurological degenerative condition, news which was made public by the club on Thursday.

Ponissi is Bellamy’s loyal and long-serving lieutenant and he fronted the post-match press conference after the Dolphins loss alongside captain Harry Grant.

Ponissi said Bellamy would not have attended the presser “win, lose or draw” but was emphatic when asked if the coach was intending to see out the rest of the 2026 season.

“Absolutely no doubt. The fire is in the belly,” Ponissi said.

“It’s been hard for him the last few weeks, but he is as committed as ever.

“You just had to be in that dressing room now to see the passion he’s got and the commitment. He doesn’t like where we are at the moment. None of us do.”

Ponissi had just spent 10 minutes with Bellamy in the sheds at Suncorp Stadium and shed light on his mindset.

“He was leading the discussion and thinking about next week and Wests Tigers already,” Ponissi said.

“He has been through a lot with his family but in terms of the way he coached tonight … he is quite remarkable.

“It is tough but he is purely about the team and trying to fix where we are going wrong and trying to get a win. He is already working on next week. That’s what we love about him.”

Bellamy and his family have been overwhelmed by the support he has received within the club, externally and all around the world.

“He is exceptionally grateful for all the support,” Ponissi said.

“Now he just wants to focus on coaching and getting us back winning.

“None of us are happy with (seven straight losses). We are embarrassed, frustrated, disappointed … all those emotions rolled into one.

“He works as hard as he has ever done before and he’s got a great group of assistants and wonderful football staff.

“We certainly won’t throw in the towel. We will work even harder looking for that first win and once we get that first win we can hopefully get on a run.”

The Storm are in 16th position on the ladder.

Grant said the Bellamy health news was “a bit raw and a bit real”  but he added that the coach was looking ahead in a “business as usual” mode.

For four-time premiers the Storm, that means winning footy games, not losing them.

“He is looking forward to next week and righting some wrongs and as a playing group we have got to buy into that and  back him up by working hard at training and turning that into a performance,” Grant said.

Meanwhile, Cameron Ciraldo believes Canterbury have dug themselves into a hole and the Bulldogs coach thinks he knows the way out of it.

“We probably have to put the shovel down ourselves first,” Ciraldo said after Friday’s loss to North Queensland condemned the Dogs to a third-straight loss.

Ciraldo, whose side have just one win in their last six games, conceded he could consider changes after a 28-12 defeat increased the scrutiny on the Bulldogs’ spine.

This time last year the Bulldogs were top of the ladder but look way off the pace after another night of attacking impotence.

Aside from bottom-placed St George Illawarra, the Dogs have the worst attack in the NRL and their struggles were highlighted by the fact their only two tries came off a kick and a solo run from Lachlan Galvin.

The chemistry between halfback Galvin and Matt Burton is failing to yield results and in the 22 games since his mid-season switch from the Wests Tigers, the Dogs have a 40 per cent win rate.

“We’re a bit down on confidence with our attack at the moment and that happens at different times,” Ciraldo said.

“There’s a lot of commentary about that so we need to make sure we’re listening to the voices within our four walls, and not anyone else.”

The Dogs were camped on the Cowboys’ line for big periods of possession but struggled to come up with answers despite having 43 play-the-balls in North Queensland’s 20m zone.

For 60 minutes the Bulldogs were within one score of the Cowboys but didn’t have an extra gear to go to when the game reached its dying stages.

The Cowboys piled on 16 points in the final 20 minutes as they notched up a sixth win from their last seven and exposed some defensive frailties that left Ciraldo fuming.

“Changes might help and we’ll definitely look at that, but it’s not going to be the solution,” he said.

“We need to get everyone playing closer to their potential individually and that will help us as a team.

“But we’ve also got to stop having those moments in the last 20 minutes where we don’t stay present and we stop competing.

“… if we put the shovel down ourselves, that might help.”

Ciraldo’s side will be without Kurt Mann (concussion) and Jake Turpin (biceps) for next Thursday’s trip to Brisbane to face the Dolphins.