The Melbourne Storm coach is believed to have masterminded the tactic to take down Queensland.
The State of Origin opener saw Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo play a markedly different style to what we’ve seen from the Penrith Panthers stars in the NRL this season. And former NRL player Denan Kemp reckons Craig Bellamy would have had his fingerprints all over the change.
Yeo has become the poster-boy for the ‘ball-playing lock’ in recent years, and usually acts as a link between the dummy-half and Panthers halves. It’s common for Yeo to pass the ball more than he runs it, and it’s worked a treat for a Panthers side that has won four-straight premierships.
But opposition sides have cottoned onto it, and defenders can usually read when Yeo is going to pass instead of run. The Panthers’ attack has become much more predictable as a result, but it all changed on Wednesday night when NSW beat Queensland.
Yeo only passed the ball three times during his 56 minutes on the field, compared to 13 times he ran. The Blues captain ran for a whopping 146 metres with ball in hand, which equates to over 11 metres per carry.
He bent the defensive line every time he took a run, and helped the NSW forward pack completely dominate their Queensland counterparts. Speaking on SEN radio on Friday morning, Kemp believes it would have been NSW advisor Bellamy who masterminded the plan for Yeo to run the ball more and abandon the tactics of Panthers coach Ivan Cleary (which have also been used in Origin in years gone past).
Kemp pointed out that the players Bellamy uses at lock for the Melbourne Storm are predominantly runners rather than passers. “I don’t think the Bellamy angle is being talked about enough,” Kemp declared. “Isaah Yeo played totally different. Every time he got the ball he ran it straight.
“And what is Bellamy known for – his 13s are usually not ball-playing 13s. They’re players like ‘Cheese’ (Brandon Smith), (Josh) King and Trent Loiero.”
Nathan Cleary’s running game paved platform for NSW
Kemp believes Bellamy would have played a part in getting Nathan Cleary to run the ball more as well, which hasn’t been common for him at NRL level this year. “I just reckon Bellamy would have gone to Cleary…Cleary had 10 tackle breaks. He ran for 120 metres,” Kemp said.
Cleary has become a bit pass-happy with the Panthers this year and hasn’t been engaging the line enough, which doesn’t force defensive units to make tricky decisions. Matty Johns highlighted that fact last month, and was rapt to see Cleary running more on Wednesday night.
“That’s his game,” Johns said. “And because he challenged the line a lot early in the contest, when they scored all the tries in the back end of the first half it was because he feigned to run and they (Queensland) squeezed in. If you present yourself as a running threat, you’ll be rewarded for it with your ball-playing later in the game.”
And that’s exactly what happened with Cleary, who set up two tries for Zac Lomax and one for Brian To’o. The To’o try came about because Cleary faked to run the ball at first-receiver and straightened towards the line, which made the defence jam in slightly and freed up space out wide.
And Lomax’s second try was the result of multiple Maroons players jamming in on Cleary and Dylan Edwards, which opened up acres of space on the right flank. Whether Bellamy was the mastermind behind the key change for Yeo and Cleary remains to be seen, but you can’t deny his presence as Laurie Daley’s advisor has worked a treat so far.
