If you had a crystal ball Why the Raiders passed on hiring Bellamy

Members of a Canberra selection committee have spoken for the first time about why they passed on Craig Bellamy, a painful decision that still haunts the Raiders 20 years on.

Bellamy interviewed for the Raiders head coach position in 2001 in the hope he would succeed Mal Meninga, only to lose out to Matthew Elliott.

Members of a Canberra selection committee have spoken for the first time about passing on Craig Bellamy.Credit:NRL Imagery

Laurie Daley and Robert Finch, who were on a three-man selection panel along with former Raiders chief executive Kevin Neil, have now detailed why they made the call to pass on the former Raider who has become arguably the game’s greatest coach in the modern era.

Bellamy will go up against Canberra and his good mate Ricky Stuart â€" the pair having played together at the Raiders in the late 1980s and early 90s â€" on Thursday night as they pursue an NRL-record 18 straight victories.

Stuart is a premiership-winning mentor in his own right, having won the 2002 title as a rookie head coach with the Sydney Roosters around the same time Bellamy was told by the Raiders “thanks, but no thanks”.

Daley was not long retired from playing and knew back then Bellamy had the makings of a great coach. Bellamy is in the box-seat to win his sixth grand final this season.

Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart.Credit:Craig Golding

“If you had a crystal ball and knew how it was going to turn out, you would have obviously jumped at the chance to take a bloke who was going to be one of the great coaches of all time,” Daley told the Herald.

“Craig’s work ethic always stood out, he had such a good relationship with players but was also very tough with them, which is unique to have that respect straight away.

“I’m sure Craig would have loved the opportunity to coach the Raiders. He waited a couple of years after that and knocked back some jobs before he went to Melbourne.

“I think we wanted something different. We had Mal as coach who came on the back of ‘Sheensy’ [Tim Sheens]. [Coach] Brian Smith had also given Matty [Elliott] a great rap, and Matty had worked under him over at Bradford.”

Finch said one of the problems Bellamy could have encountered in Canberra was coaching players he had played with, something Meninga had to contend with.

Finch also questioned whether Bellamy would have enjoyed the same success with the Raiders without Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk or Billy Slater.

To be fair to Elliott, he took Canberra to the finals in four of the five years he was at the helm.

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but that’s professional footy, you make these sorts of decisions, some you get right and some you don’t,” Finch said with a laugh.

Craig Bellamy has had unparalleled success at the Storm.Credit:NRL Photos

“Craig’s success at Melbourne has been unparalleled, it will probably never be matched â€" he’s one of the great coaches of all time â€" and whether that would have happened had he gone to Canberra, I don’t know.

“There was also the discussion about looking outside the ‘bubble’ so to speak, and to get someone with a different perspective into the club.”

There are no shortage of recruitment and retention decisions gone wrong that become folklore. Finch said if he had remained at the club, Canberra would have also recruited a young Benji Marshall, only for the club’s affiliation with Keebra Park High School to end when he departed. Keebra Park and the Wests Tigers joined forces with Marshall becoming a club legend and delivering them their only title in 2005.

Neil was contacted by the Herald but could not be reached.

In 2002, Bellamy was offered the Wests Tigers coaching job not long after the “Baby Broncos” he was in charge of embarrassed the joint venture in a game at Campbelltown.

Bellamy started at the Storm in 2003 and has only missed the finals once, 2010, the year they were punished for cap rorting.

Stuart and Bellamy are close friends and make a point of enjoying a beer in the losing team’s dressing sheds whenever their sides meet. They will do so again at Sunshine Coast Stadium late Thursday.

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Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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