Footy great Matty Johns has pinpointed the moment that ignited the decades-long rivalry between Wayne Bennett and Craig Bellamy.
The coaching greats had once been best mates but over the years have traded barbs and will now come up against each other once again on Friday night as the Storm take on the Rabbitohs at AAMI Park.
It appears their careers have forever been entwined, with Bellamy being signed as a co-coach for the Canberra Raiders back in 1987.
Bellamy, a former five-eighth, was on the Raiders’ list at the time, but his side were struggling for form.
Following his appointment, Bennett opted to implement new fitness plans for his players.
One measure that was introduced saw Bennett make his players undergo a 10km torture run each week.
Wayne Bennett (left) and Craig Bellamy (right) will reignite their long-standing coaching rivalry on Friday
But its been revealed by Matty Johns that Bellamy and Bennett’s (pictured) rivalry was sparked over a 10km race
‘Bennett would not only join the players on the run – he would win. Every week. Easily,’ Johns wrote in his column in The Daily Telegraph.
Bellamy, though, had been ruled out of pre-season before the beginning of the 1987 premiership campaign with a calf injury.
But a month into the new season, he was able to have a stab at the 10km race.
It was here that he would put the Raiders’ coach through his paces.
After having taken the lead, Bennett was passed by Bellamy, who zoomed past the footy boss.
In fact, this, according to Johns, was the ‘beginning of their long relationship and symbolic of their fierce rivalry.’
After hanging up his boots in 1991, Bellamy would seek out a career in coaching, with Bellamy hiring him as a performance coordinator and assistant coach during his time at the Brisbane Broncos. The team won the NRL Grand Final the following year in 1998.
He had learned many things about footy and coaching from his old mentor Bennett during that time, including a lesson that you are meant to treat players differently.
Johns claimed that Bennett had imposed a 10km run on his Canberra Raiders side each week, and would generally tend to win the race
Bellamy, who was playing for the Raiders at the time, would come back to beat Bennett in the race
Johns recounted how Bellamy had become infuriated after spotting skipper Allan Langer chatting to a man on a walk at the edge of the Bronco’s training ground fence.
He had attempted to go and talk to Langer and tell him to pull up his socks but Bennett stopped him, asking him where he was going.
Johns recounted Bennett telling him: ‘You f***ing leave him alone, that’s what he does.’
Over the years, the pair have come head-to-head on 35 occasions, with Bellamy winning 29 of those matches.
Bennett’s Bunnies are coming off the back of a dismal 32-0 defeat by the Bulldogs last week, their second successive loss after suffering an eight-point defeat to the Cowboys the week prior.
Despite going second in the NRL ladder, Storm also slumped to a disappointing 42-22 defeat by the Dolphins last week.
The Melbourne-based side has been rocked by a spate of injuries in recent weeks, with Will Warbrick set to miss out on Friday’s clash with a concussion injury.
Bellamy’s Melbourne Storm will do battle against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday night
Bennett’s Rabbitohs are looking to bounce back following a disappointing 32-0 defeat by the Bulldogs last week
Captain Harry Grant and Jack Howarth are both out with a hamstring problem and a dislocated shoulder respectively.
‘It has been testing but there are other clubs in the same boat. we’re just struggling to put a 17 out there at the moment,’ he said.
‘We’ve already been looking at (bringing in players) since Christian retired. I’m not quite sure why we haven’t got someone in. There are not too many clubs willing to release players.
‘We need to make sure we get the best out of what we’ve got.’
