Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder.
Bellamy, 66, who has been with NRL side Storm since 2003 and signed a new two-year contract in February, will continue in his role despite the news.
A club statement read: “Melbourne Storm wishes to provide an update regarding the health of senior coach Craig Bellamy.
“Over recent weeks, in consultation with specialists, Craig has undergone a series of medical tests and has since been diagnosed with a form of neurodegenerative disorder.
“He is receiving the best possible medical treatment and has been advised by specialists that his diagnosis will not have an impact on his ability to coach the team in the immediate future.”
Neurodegenerative disorders are “chronic, progressive conditions which lead to a loss of neurons in the brain or nervous system”.
The news comes after it was confirmed earlier this week that Bellamy would be stepping down from his advisory role with the NSW Blues.
Meanwhile, Storm are struggling on the pitch having lost their last six matches.
The run, which followed two victories at the beginning of the season, leaves them down in 16th place.
But club chairman Matt Tripp has come out in support of Bellamy — who has coached more than 600 games and 400 wins at the club.
Tripp said: “Despite our recent results, I firmly believe Craig is still coaching at an elite level and I have no doubt he is the right person to drive the club forward.
“Craig has the full support of the board, players, coaches, and staff to continue leading the Club as he has done for the last 24 seasons.”
Bellamy was honest in his assessment of where the Storm are following their 48-6 hammering at the hands of South Sydney on Saturday.
He said: “We might have to go downhill a little bit further, to be quite honest.
“At the end of the day, I’ve stuck with basically the same side the last six weeks and I think it’s time to make some changes.
“We haven’t got a whole heap of depth there with first-grade experience, but we’ll find a couple of guys that want to go out there and have a go, so that’s what we’ll do.
“I don’t know if starting again is the right term, but that’s what it feels like at the moment — just cut it back to its bare bones and let’s build again.”
When pressed on whether he still has the backing of the players in the dressing room, he added: “That’s a good point, I might not have.”
But immediately after Bellamy made that admission, captain Harry Grant stepped in to support the Storm boss.
Grant said: “Yeah, he does, that’s a silly question, you don’t need to ask him that.
“He’s a modest guy and he’s probably going to look to himself for these results, but at the end of the day no one works harder than Craig.
“You come into the club every morning and he’s in here working.”
Next up for the Storm on Friday night is a trip to Brisbane to take on the Dolphins.
