In a reverse from his infamous 2008 spray against the NRL and the judicial process, Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy has claimed to have “learned his lesson” from the scandal in the aftermath of Nelson Asofa-Solomona’s unsuccessful trip to the judiciary on Monday night.
Bellamy spoke to reporters today after the judiciary’s verdict and was shattered for his big front rower.
The Melbourne coach said he spoke to Asofa-Solomona on Monday and said the Kiwi international was “obviously really disappointed to miss the grand final”, adding it is the “dream of everybody that plays NRL…to get to a grand final… because he is such an important part of our team”.
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Bellamy was asked whether he was critical of the NRL and match review process in the aftermath of the incident.
In an about face from 16 years before, Bellamy said he “learned his lesson in 2008 on that [being critical of NRL]” and was prepared to let the matter drop.
Bellamy’s focus now is on the grand final at hand, declaring that “it is done now, so we need to move onto our preparation”.
Bellamy and the Storm famously went to war with the NRL after Cameron Smith was suspended from the 2008 NRL Grand Final following a chicken wing tackle earlier in the finals series.
Bellamy and the Storm and accused the NRL of not giving Smith a fair hearing ahead of his trip to the judiciary telling the media “we just want a fair go, and Cameron Smith didn’t get a fair go”.
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The NRL fined the club $50,000 in the aftermath of the sordid scandal but the issue wasn’t over there with two members of the NRL judiciary taking legal action.
The incident took it out of the Storm, who let the media distractions get to them and went on to lose the grand final by a record 40-0 scoreline.
The matter was settled out of court for a six-figure amount in late 2010.
Since the incident, Bellamy has been cautious in going after the NRL and incurring the wrath of league headquarters.
Fox League’s Matty Johns was working with the Storm at the time and said at the time on his podcast that the Storm “went to war with the rugby league world and it zapped their energy ahead of the grand final”.
It is clear that the lesson has been learned ahead of the biggest day of Melbourne’s season.
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