Storm legend Billy Slater has sent tongues wagging after he was spotted giving Melbourne players advice at halftime during their defeat to Canterbury on Friday night.
Slater, the current Maroons coach, has been heavily rumoured to be Melbourne’s ideal successor to Craig Bellamy, with the legendary coach’s future clouded in uncertainty.
Bellamy has been at the helm of the Storm since 2003, and despite being contracted until the end of 2028, his future in coaching is unclear given he was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder earlier in the year.
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In an ideal world for Melbourne Storm fans, Slater would take over when Bellamy decides to walk away from the top job.
The Queensland Maroons coach is currently employed by the club in a consultancy role. And vision of him giving advice to Tyran Wishart and Sua Fa’alogo in the sheds will only intensify talks that he could be the next Storm coach.
Slater has previously said he would help out Bellamy at the Storm whenever and in whatever way he needed.
“You do things that you care for, and Craig Bellamy and the Melbourne Storm are two things that I really care for. So if Craig Bellamy ever asks me for a hand, he wouldn’t have to ask twice, put it that way,” Slater told 9News after Bellamy’s diagnosis.
“Knowing what he’s going through and knowing how hard he works and what he puts into this club and footy team (I’m happy to help), I’m already in there most weeks and doing a part-time role.
“The great thing is I haven’t seen any signs of this being in and around Craig Bellamy, in the short term, I don’t think his ability to coach this footy team is going to waver.”
However, Slater has given no indication publicly that he wants the Melbourne gig despite admitting he is unsure if he will continue as Maroons head coach next year.
“Not sure yet. I think I’ll just let the dust settle and sit down with the right people and make that decision,” Slater told Nine’s The Sunday Footy Show in July addressing his future as Maroons coach.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into it, and it’s a feeling thing. The reason I jumped into that position is because it meant the world to me, and it still does.”
And despite the vision from the sheds showing Slater taking a hands-on role in the coaching department at Melbourne, fellow Storm legend and Slater’s former teammate Cooper Cronk doesn’t believe he will step up and replace Bellamy as the club’s next head coach.
“I don’t think he wants to do it, I don’t think he will do it. I think the Melbourne Storm would love for him to do it,” Cronk said on Fox League on Friday night.
“Coaching is 24-7, 365 days. He did that as a player for 16, 17 years.
“I think Melbourne Storm would love him to do it. Personally, he’s never said this to me, but I just don’t think he would.”
Kangaroos Kevin Walters added Slater would be the “obvious choice” if he was to voice his desire to be an NRL coach.
“He’d be the obvious choice wouldn’t he?” Walters said.
“He’s got his racehorses and he’s coaching Queensland but that (vision) looks to me like the next Melbourne Storm coach right there.”
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