‘The best person possible’: Craig Bellamy to serve as Laurie Daley’s adviser as Blues unveil new coaching staff

In his first stint in charge of the Blues, Laurie Daley had to coach against several future Immortals, but the returning Blues boss is more mature than he was last time and will have a not-so-secret weapon working with him to ensure the State of Origin shield stays south of the border.

Veteran Storm boss Craig Bellamy struggled when he was in charge of the Blues against Queensland when they were at their most powerful, but he’s also set to return to the fold in 2025 as Daley’s adviser.

The pair played together for Canberra and are now tasked with building on what Michael Maguire did in his one year in charge after he won the series and got inside the head of Maroons coach Billy Slater.

Daley is no stranger to the Origin arena having played and then coached from 2013-17, with his only series win coming in 2014 when he famously helped the Blues end Queensland’s eight-year run of dominance.

He eventually lost his job and has spent the past few years working in radio, but he’s confident he still has what it takes to coach despite rugby league looking very different to what it was back in 2017.

“I love NSW, I love coaching, and this suits me perfectly,” Daley said on Monday, with Matt King elevated to the role of senior assistant coach.

“You’d like to think so (that I’m a different coach to last time). I’d like to think I’m a better coach and I’ve learnt a lot.

“Maturity (is one thing you learn). There are a lot of aspects that go into running a football program, not only the coaching side of it, but the human side as well.

“As coaches, as mentors, as managers or whatever you do as a leader, you’re always learning and you want to get better.

“If you’ve got that desire to get better every day at what you do, there’s no reason why you can’t be better.”

What Daley lacks in coaching experience will be made up by Bellamy, who shows no signs of slowing down after he led the Storm to the minor premiership and a spot in this year’s grand final.

“I was looking for some guidance,” Daley said.

“If I ever got that opportunity (to coach) again, I was looking for someone to help me, and I thought he would be the best person possible to do that.

“Craig will help the coaches, and he’ll also be a part of the group. I’m excited to have him involved, and if I’m excited then I think the players will be excited to work with someone like Craig.

“You don’t have to talk about what he’s achieved in the game, and he’s passionate about NSW and wants to be a part of it.

“With him being there with us, we’ll all learn a lot.”

There is a suggestion that coaches simply can’t juggle both an NRL and Origin job, but Bellamy was more than happy to help Daley out, with his role for next year’s series set to revolve around the Storm’s schedule.

The Storm has the bye before the first two games of the series, and that will allow Bellamy to spend plenty of time in Blues camp. The Melbourne mentor will also be with the team for the potential series decider on July 9 in Sydney, with the Storm to play in Newcastle that weekend.

“They’ve got a couple of byes during Origin, so there’ll be a period of time where he’ll spend a lot of time with us,” Daley explained.

“There will be a stage through the third Origin where he will be in camp and will certainly be there game night sitting in the box.

“I’ll be with Craig throughout the year at certain games sitting in the (Storm) box and learning and seeing how he goes about processing certain things in games, so we won’t just turn up on the night expecting that connection to be there.”

Bellamy will be involved with selections for next year’s series, with Daley saying it’s too early to worry about incumbency and whether Nathan Cleary or Mitchell Moses will start game one at halfback.

“If you get too far ahead of yourself, you just never know,” he said, confirming he’ll keep his radio job despite previous fears of a conflict of interest involving a gambling affiliation.

“If all those players are available, I’ll be extremely happy and I’ll be comfortable to make a tough choice.

“But one thing you learn when you’re in the hot seat is that you never actually get the team that you think you’re going to get because there are always injuries and suspensions.”