He's the angriest coach in the NRL. But Craig Bellamy lightened up for Origin
With a camera crew following his every move, Craig Bellamy last year revealed the game-day angst he has carried his whole career.
Despite having coached more than 500 NRL matches, Stan's Revealed - Craig Bellamy: Inside the Storm documentary lifted the lid on how nerves frequently make the hours before a game almost unbearable for one of rugby league's greatest ever mentors.
On Wednesday night, clutching a Jim Beam and cola (no Queensland sugarcane champagne, thank you) in the Suncorp sheds, Bellamy toasted the Blues' grinding 18-6 Origin I victory, and Laurie Daley. And for once, a pleasurable game-day experience.
Bellamy, Daley's sounding board in the coach's box, made sure he sat largely out of sight of Channel 9's cameras. And revelled in the fact it was someone else going through the emotional wringer only a head coach can truly understand.
A coach's burden can be a cruel and unusual punishment. An incredible investment in the 17 players in the middle, so much work poured into them, their game plan and every possible scenario … and then you have to watch on, largely unable to influence proceedings any further beyond interchanges and relayed messages.
'So I was well-behaved,' Bellamy grinned. No blow-ups, he swears.
Daley confirms.
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