Storm Coach, Craig Bellamy says there is nothing but “nice memories” to take from Melbourne’s 2020 NRL premiership win as he leads the new-look Storm into the grand-final rematch against Penrith.
Rarely in the ensuing four seasons have triple-reigning premiers Penrith been as comprehensively outplayed as they were by the Storm in the 2020 decider.
Playing his last match, NRL great Cameron Smith skippered the Storm to a 26-0 lead early in the second half, with the side eventually holding on for a 26-20 win and fourth premiership.
Fuelled by their heartbreak, the Panthers twice eliminated the Storm from finals in the years that followed, before the two undisputed best sides of 2024 booked in a grand-final date for Sunday.
But while much has been made of roster changes undergone at Penrith over the past four years, the Storm have been undergoing their own regeneration.
Just four players from the Storm’s 2020 grand final team – Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Christian Welch – will face Penrith at Accor Stadium.
And while Penrith’s squad is now largely comprised of players who came through their famous junior nursery, nine of the Storm’s 17 were recruited after the 2020 triumph.
“I was just looking at the last team we had in a grand final in 2020. Nine of those 18 played against us this year,” Bellamy said.
“Having lost them and obviously Cameron (Smith) being the big loss, our side has changed a lot in four years. It’s changed a heap.”
Newly-minted Dally M Medallist Hughes, wily five-eighth Munster and athletic fullback Papenhuyzen were all in the spine on grand final day in 2020, with the last of that trio winning the Clive Churchill Medal as man of the match.
But with Smith still the chief architect at the time, Bellamy said the team had undergone a shift since 2020, and was quick to point out injuries had meant the current spine was only just clicking into gear.
“It’s a different era with those guys,” he said.
“These guys are just basically starting together. They’ve still got a bit to go, to be quite honest.”
While Sunday’s fixture marks only the second grand final rematch of the NRL era, Bellamy is looking at the two deciders as separate from one another.
“Four years is a long time in life, four years is a real long time in footy,” he said.
“At the end of the day, that was a great result for us back then but I can hardly remember it to be quite honest.
“What’s important is now. In the past, they’re nice memories, but halfway through next week we’d like to have a nice memory of what happens (on Sunday) too.”
Written by: Jasper Bruce © AAP
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