Craig Bellamy has questioned the NRL’s stance on hip drop tackles after an ugly moment that saw superstar Cameron Munster writhing in pain.
Munster’s ankle was caught under Bulldogs forward Jaeman Salmon with five minutes remaining in their finals clash.
Initially, it looked as if the star five-eighth had suffered a serious injury but was able to walk away from the incident largely unscathed.
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Bellamy was left confused as to why Salmon avoided being placed on report, while others earlier this season have received sanctions for their own similar indiscretions.
Nicho Hynes was handed a one-game ban after Round 27, who was ultimately overturned, while Jamie Humphreys earned a two-game suspension for a similar incident that same week.
Earlier this year, Panthers centre Izack Tago was handed one game’s suspension for a moment initially missed in his side’s win over the Eels in Round 19, among a host of other bans.
The Storm coach was asked in the post-match press conference whether he agreed with Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo’s comments regarding a slow play-the-ball.
“The one thing I noticed today, it might have been slow play-the-balls, it might not have been. But it seems as though the league has come (to) a different opinion of hip drops now,” he said.
“I don’t think any player goes out there to drop their hip on the back of someone’s legs, but in the past we’ve had players at other clubs be suspended for that.
“All of a sudden now it seems to be an accident. That’s what I took out of the game.”
With that, Bellamy stood up and walked out of the press conference.
Luckily for the Storm, Munster avoided a serious injury.
“I don’t think it’s great, but I don’t think it’s anything too serious,” Bellamy said.
“He was just talking to me about it then, he said it’s really sore. But he will be all right.”
The Storm’s latest finals triumph marks Bellamy’s 10th preliminary finals appearance in the last 11 seasons.
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Even the legendary mentor found that fact hard to believe, sitting bewildered as a reporter informed him of the monumental achievement.
“I didn’t sort of know that stat, I think someone said it earlier,” Bellamy said.
“That’s a pretty good record to be quite honest. At the end of the day we have had some wonderful players here.
“I think our biggest strength has always been we’ve had a really strong spine and leaders, and the other strength I think is everybody at the club knows what their role is.
“And they work bloody hard to get it done. That’s players, coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, physios, whatever. Everyone knows what their role is.
“That’s the most important thing and then the care that the people have got, they do that job the best they can.”
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