Craig Bellamy and Matty Johns make call on replacing Michael Maguire as NSW Origin coach
Bellamy has ruled himself out of the NSW job stating it would be too difficult to coach both the Blues and Melbourne.
Craig Bellamy has ruled himself out of the race for the NSW State of Origin job, stating that juggling the Melbourne Storm and Blues coaching roles would simply be too hard. Bellamy is the last Origin coach to juggle both a club and representative side for a mid-season series, having led the Blues in 2009 and 2010.
And after Michael Maguire stepped down from the NSW job this week, inking a three-year deal to take over at the Broncos, there have been renewed calls for the Blues to go with a top current NRL coach. Bellamy, his grand-final rival Ivan Cleary and Ricky Stuart have been promptly flagged as top candidates for the role.
But the Storm coach ruled himself out on Wednesday night and said he believes a current NRL coach shouldn't take the role. "I've committed myself for the Storm next year," Bellamy said after claiming his seventh Dally M coach of the year honour.
"They're not going to have a coach who is coaching an NRL side coaching Origin. I think they think that is too hard, and I think that as well. I have been there and done that. It's too hard. It's hard on your club when you're in Origin because everyone else has to do your work as well.
"And then you're worrying about your club when you're in Origin. Well, you shouldn't be doing that. You shouldn't be doing Origin if you're doing other things. I have made that decision and I will stick with that."
Matty Johns rules himself out of contention for NSW Blues job
Matty Johns has been another name thrown around as Maguire's possible replacement but the former Knights great says he's not interested in the role. Speaking on the Backstage podcast alongside his son Cooper, the 53-year-old said while it is nice to be considered for the job, it is not one he wants as he's happy working in media and doesn't intend to go down the coaching route.
"There's something that sits inside all of us, that if we don't keep check of it, will send us down a path we shouldn't go on and it's called ego," Johns said. "When people come out and say to me 'Matthew Johns for NSW coach' I'll be perfectly honest, it feels good because it strokes the ego. In me, there's part of me that thinks I should take it and show them how good I am and win three or four in a row.
(But) I've picked my path and my career has been in the media and it has been unbelievable. The best thing I have done in my life in the last 15 years is to make my life very low-stress. I have a lot of fun and it's a low-stress life. I put currency on having a life like that, spending time with you people (family) than I do with having to feel special by coaching."
It is not the first time Johns has been linked with the Blues job. And while 53-year-old admits he has previously seriously considered the prospect of coaching the NSW side, it was never a thought this time around as he still vividly recalls Wayne Bennett's wise words to him.
"The last time this happened and they talked about me doing the job, Wayne Bennett called me and said 'If you are serious about doing this job, go and get yourself a football side straight away'," Johns said.
"It didn't matter if it was an under 19s side or whatever, you need to get back into coaching to get coach fit and start to make mistakes. He said if you go into the cut and thrust of all things State of Origin coaching if you aren't fit, you could be in trouble."
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Phil Gould calls for Ivan Cleary to be approached for NSW job
Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould believes a current NRL coach should get the Blues job and believes NSWRL should do everything they can to try and convince Cleary to take it on. "The set-up there (at Penrith) is pretty much plug-in and plug-out. I think if Ivan Cleary didn't turn up to work for a week, the whole thing would keep functioning," Gould said on the 'Six Tackles With Gus' podcast. "I think it should be an aspiration and I don't think he should have to retire from club coaching to be a representative coach, given his record.
"I think those great coaches like Cleary and Bellamy could honestly coach Origin, but it's a distraction for their club. I think it would be second nature for Cleary or Bellamy to step in and do that job and I think it would be the best course of action. I don't know why they changed that and why at some stage they worried about it.
"I actually found it easier to coach the rep team when I was a club coach. You're in the rhythm of training and preparing, you know the players from the other teams, you know the referees … you're already locked into 90 per cent of what you're gonna be doing."
Cleary has previously spent time in the NSW Origin camp as an adviser while coaching Penrith and would be a leading contender if NSW wanted to go down that path. But away from current NRL coaches the likes of Laurie Daley, Michael Ennis, Gould and Paul McGregor have also been floated as potential options.
with AAP
