Melbourne’s Craig Bellamy has set the scene for a fiery opening week to the NRL finals by launching a grenade back at Parramatta coach Brad Arthur over tackling tactics.
Following the Storm’s 32-6 final round demolition of Canberra, Bellamy turned his attention to their qualifying final opponents Parramatta.
Eels coach Arthur started the mind games saying he hoped the referees would police the ruck and stop Melbourne slowing the ball with their wrestling techniques.
Bellamy said Arthur should look in his “own backyard” before pointing the finger at Melbourne.
“If he was having a go at us about defence and smothering whatever he likes to call it then I’ll be talking to the referees boss about how they (Parramatta) just lay all over opposition attack inside their 20 metre zone. They just go to sleep there sometimes,” Bellamy said.
“He wants to fire a few shots off at us well we’ll be firing a few shots back.
“I’m not quite sure how they get away with some of it so again he should be looking at his own backyard before he looks at us.”
Bellamy said he’d heard it all before, with North Queensland coach Paul Green making the same complaint before their finals clash in 2016.
“It’s amazing – every year it happens, semi-final time a coach comes out – it’s the same song just a different singer,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy described the performance against Canberra as a “strange” game with the Storm setting up the victory by racing to a 20-0 lead after 20 minutes.
He admitted he felt like the minor premiers were marking time and he just wanted the side to get through unscathed.
The match marked skipper Cameron Smith’s 355th NRL game which saw him draw level with Brisbane great Darren Lockyer while it was also a farewell of sorts for departing halfback Cooper Cronk.
For the second consecutive year, Smith also accepted the JJ Giltinan Shield for winning the minor premiership.