Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy took a cheeky dig at Harry Grant while stopping short of comparing the Storm captain to Cameron Smith, following a hugely dominant performance by the hooker.
Grant tore the Eels apart from dummy-half and was always a threat, scoring two tries in Melbourne’s 52-4 hammering of the Eels at AAMI Park. However, he came off with about 20 minutes to go with cramp.
While tipping his hat to the Storm skipper sitting beside him in the post-match press conference, Bellamy couldn’t help himself when asked about Grant’s pivotal role in the match.
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“We were happy he did before he broke his leg,” Bellamy said.
“Oh that’s right, cramp, I thought he broke his leg… so we got him off, but it was only a cramp, so we were very lucky there.
“He did a great job. That try was the second try we scored that was really important to us and there wouldn’t be too many dummy-halves that can score a try in that situation.
“Again, I just think with Harry this season he’s just really concentrated on making sure he’s playing his best footy and coming to training and training the best he can and going on from there. He’s had one hell of a pre-season and hell of a game there tonight.”
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As for comparisons to Storm legend Smith, Bellamy said it’s difficult to determine, but is grateful to coach both players.
“That’s an interesting comparison, he’s certainly quicker than Cameron Smith at his best, I can tell you,” Bellamy said when asked about Smith’s successor.
“I think he broke his leg once, but at the end of the day we’re talking about two different players and probably two different eras and they are both wonderful, wonderful players.
“I just look back and look forward and just think like how fortunate this club’s been or how fortunate for me as a coach to have two guys that touch the ball more than anybody else in the team.
“To have Cameron play as long as he did and then soon as he retired Harry came in after, so let’s say the whole club has been very fortunate to have two players like Cameron and Harry.”
Bellamy said he didn’t envision the huge scoreline but was pleased his side put their poor trial form behind them.
The victory kept Melbourne’s impressive round one record intact, with the Storm taking out every round one game since the 2002 season, apart from a bye in 2004.
The last time the Storm lost in round one was a 14-10 defeat to the Bulldogs at Docklands Stadium to begin the 2001 season.
Grant said there was emphasis on the round one win streak during the week,
“It was probably spoken about a little bit because it was gonna be there as a bit of noise and at the end of the day it’s just an outcome of how we perform, how we prepare and ultimately the work you do in the pre-season,” Grant said.
“You get a chance to showcase it but I think yeah the playing group really respects it and at the end of the day there’s a lot of old boys sitting at home watching knowing that they’ve contributed to that as a part of the history of the club.
“Whether you call it a record or a streak whatever but you know there’s plenty of people that have played a part in that and hopefully they can be pretty proud that it’s still rolling and they’ve contributed over the years.”
