'That was it for Craig': The rogue comment from Broncos official that ...
It has been revealed the Broncos were on the verge of signing Craig Bellamy back in 2008 before a single comment from an official brought the entire deal crashing down.
Bellamy was ready to leave Melbourne and replace Wayne Bennett ahead but he walked away at the 11th hour, irked by a comment from a board member during the interview process.
“In 2008, they got real close,” Bellamy told Fox League’s Matty Johns ahead of his 10th grand final in Sunday night’s decider against Penrith.
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“But … there were a couple of little things that changed it.”
NRL icon Johns revealed what happened behind the scenes 16 years ago.
“So in 2008, Craig meets with them and basically decides, ‘Yep, I’m going to the Broncos’,” Johns told The Courier Mail.
“He met with the board to finalise the deal.
“As the meeting was concluding, one of the board members said words to the effect of, ‘Just letting you know, you won’t have the same power here as the old bloke (Bennett) who is leaving’.
“The feeling from the Broncos was that Wayne had too much control.
“The Broncos didn’t want Craig to have the same power over them that Wayne had and that was one of the closing comments from a board member.”
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It was a single comment that ultimately changed the course of rugby league history.
“That was the end for Craig,” Johns said.
“He went away and had a think about whether to still go to the Broncos, but in his heart, he felt Brisbane were never going to be his type of club.
“After that meeting, Craig said, ‘No, I’m staying in Melbourne’.”
Bellamy stayed with the Storm and went on to make another eight grand finals and won four, with a fifth one on offer on Sunday night.
“No doubt he would have won premierships with the Broncos,” Johns said.
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“It’s not just what he’s got with his work ethic, it’s the players he would have attracted as well.
“I believe one or two of those great Storm players would have broken away too and gone with him to the Broncos.
“Greg Inglis almost went to the Broncos and I believe ‘GI’ would have gone if Craig was there, instead of South Sydney.
“Craig would have been the perfect fit for the Broncos.
“It could easily have been the Broncos versus Penrith this Sunday and we would have been talking about the Broncos building a dynasty like Bellamy has at the Storm.”
