Craig Bellamy blasted suggestions the Storm’s season will be a failure of they don’t win the Grand Final and took issue with critics of the new finals format after the prelim win over the Sharks.
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The Storm beat the Sharks 22-14 in a thriller to seal an 11th Grand Final appearance for Bellamy, but he has only won five and had two stripped for the salary cap scandal.
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Bellamy was asked if it was an advantage that the Storm would have two more days to prepare for the Grand Final than the winner of the Broncos’ clash with the Storm.
“Yeah, I think it is an advantage, but with all due respect, we didn’t make that decision,” Bellamy said.
“A lot of people have been a bit critical as if we want to play Friday, so you have to put them on Sunday.
“Like at the end of the day, the NRL made the decision, not us.”
Bellamy also bristled at suggestions teams who lose Grand Finals are failures.
“I don’t think it’s making amends at all,” Bellamy said.
“We ran into a really good side last year in the Grand Final in Penrith. They know how to win Grand Finals as we’ve seen the last four years.
“And I find it amazing that people say, you get to the Grand Final, but you’ve failed the year.
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“At the end of the day it’s hard to get into a Grand Final and it’s extra hard to win one.
“So we found a way today to get into the Grand Final and hopefully we can find a way to finish it off next week.
“But at the end of the day, there’s going to be two teams there and they’re going to be two good teams and let’s see what happens.
“But this thing about, you’ve had a failed season to get beat into the Grand Final, that’s a load of crap.
“It’s hard to get into a Grand Final and it is a fair bit harder winning one.”
Bellamy admitted making his 11th Grand Final hadn’t quite sunk in, but he was proud of his players for making it after a rollercoaster year.
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“Actually I’m not quite as excited as I probably thought I’d be,” Bellamy said.
“The thing I was happiest with most was our form today. I thought we were a lot more consistent than we have been probably the last month or five weeks. That’s probably the reason we won the game too, to be quite honest.
“I thought the Sharks have had a really good end to the season and I thought they defended their try line today really well.
“We got a little bit frustrated there a couple of times I think. But it probably hasn’t sunk in for me yet.
“I’m just thinking about what we’re doing tomorrow and who we’re playing too. I think we don’t find that out until Sunday. It’s really good but I think we’ll probably sink in a little bit more tomorrow for me.
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“I think it’s a sense of relief in that we’ve found basically nearly a consistent 80 minutes, which we probably haven’t produced for the last five or six weeks. That’s a bit of a relief. “Then sort of understand what winning today means. That probably hasn’t sunk in to me yet.”
Jahrome Hughes made a successful return from a fractured forearm to lead the Storm to victory and Bellamy revealed he was always confident his halfback would be fine to get through the 80 minutes.
“Oh yeah, without a doubt, it was a big call to drop Jonah,” Bellamy said.
“He did a really good job last week, but the thing with Hughes, when I spoke to him about it, he was just so confident that he was okay.
“He’s not an overconfident or a cocky kid at all, so when he told me he was ready, I knew he’d be ready and then talking to the medical people, they thought that what he’d done with his rehab but also a little bit with the trine, that he should be okay.
“So the confidence that he showed in that he was going to be okay, that convinced me that he was right to play.”
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The Star of the game apart from Hughes and Cameron Munster was Stefano Utoikamanu who has stepped up in the absence of suspended star Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
“Yeah, without a doubt, but with all due respect, he’s been building probably the last eight or ten weeks,” Bellamy said.
“I think when he first came here, he probably did things a little bit differently to what he’d been used to.
“Not saying it’s right or wrong, but he took a little while to, I suppose understand what his role was and how to do his role in this team.
“But the last eight or ten weeks, I don’t think I’ve seen a better front-rower in the competition to be quite honest. He was outstanding and he certainly led the way today.
“He’s just such a modest guy, some of those guys, they’re really good players, they’ve got a bit of front of them, but he’s got nothing of that.
“He’s just a real down to earth, modest, lovely bloke, but his last eight or 10 weeks, he’s been outstanding.”
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