Corey Parker: Craig Bellamy’s game-changing halfback masterstroke with Jahrome Hughes and co

Most clubs fall over themselves to sign talented young No.7s for big money. True to their game-changing form, the Storm have instead manufactured them.

Jahrome Hughes is a rightful Dally M Medal favourite this season, meaning he could join Nicho Hynes and Cooper Cronk as halfbacks from Melbourne’s production line to win the NRL’s highest individual award.

Not bad for a couple of former reserve fullbacks and a little utility.

It rates among Craig Bellamy’s greatest coaching masterstrokes, to look at those players and see halfbacks waiting to be formed. It also speaks volumes of Melbourne’s system and what comes out the back of it when you apply yourself. Potential doesn’t become a winning final product so regularly without the Storm’s famous work ethic.

Craig and his staff obviously identified certain traits in Jahrome, Nicho and Cooper which could be built around. In the case of Jahrome and Nicho, it was a great running game that came from playing at No.1.

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Elite ball-running is a big point of difference that guys like Jahrome and Nathan Cleary have over older halfbacks such as Daly Cherry-Evans, Adam Reynolds and Shaun Johnson. Jahrome has then worked extremely hard on his kicking, passing and decision-making.

In a season marred by injuries for Melbourne, Jahrome has been the constant. He’s carried that side to an extent; Craig has said that the Storm wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for his halfback. Jahrome’s success is a real highlight of where Melbourne is at as a club; they’re still the NRL’s benchmark in so many ways and they’ve always got a smart plan in place.

Don’t forget that Craig switched in Jahrome for a more conventional halfback, Brodie Croft, right before the 2019 finals. They won the comp with Jahrome at No.7 the following season.

Part of this success is that Craig Bellamy and his coaching staff understand the game extremely well, and know what role a halfback must play to be effective alongside their teammates. But then it’s endless amounts of repetition on the player’s part to get it right.

Time will tell, but there’s a good chance that Jahrome finishes this season with a Dally M Medal and another premiership ring for his efforts.

THE FAVOURITES

It’s hard to look past Melbourne and Penrith for the title. The Storm are my favourites, based on recent weeks and just five losses all season, but you can’t ignore what the Panthers have done these past four years.

A lot hinges on this weekend. Having a weekend off at this time of year is an enormous advantage. Forget people’s arguments about playing and keeping momentum; when you’re carrying a season’s worth of niggling injuries and the biggest games are ahead, you absolutely want the week off.

The Storm won the minor premiership despite huge injury adversity, which I touched on last week. It’s been a remarkable campaign that arguably even tops those from the Smith-Slater-Cronk years.

Ranking fourth in the NRL for defence, they’ve leaked a few more points this season than we’re accustomed to seeing from Melbourne, yet they’ve also kept on scoring more than their opponents. Winning a minor premiership with just five losses tells you that they’ve nearly always found a way to get the result and honestly, the modern game is refereed for points to be scored.

Any other club, you might have a reservation about the defensive numbers. Yet the fact that it’s Melbourne with Craig at the helm and so many star players, you feel OK about it.

While Penrith finished second, they’ve done it with just 10 games from Cleary, which is a brilliant effort. Yet I don’t believe they can win a grand final without Nathan, so having him back for the finals – hopefully from this weekend – is a massive boost and they’ll need him to stay healthy.

After four consecutive grand finals and three straight premierships, are the wheels finally starting to wobble for Penrith? Or have they just been going through the motions with an eye on the finals? You certainly can’t discount the experience and the confidence gained from their past four years, and their ability to again get the job done.

SOME CHANCE

There’s been huge question marks over the Roosters and Sharks, fairly enough. The Chooks have failed to beat the Storm and Panthers this season, and just sustained some major injuries, while Cronulla are yet to win a final under Craig Fitzgibbon.

Losing Sam Walker and Brandon Smith from the spine has to hurt the Roosters. They’ve still got plenty of talent, but their absence obviously eliminates two key points of attack; and the loss of Victor Radley on top of that is massive. Few teams could survive those sort of casualties on the brink of the finals. They’ve still got serious talent and they’ll still compete, but I can no longer see them winning the competition unless luck seriously runs their way.

Timing is everything in rugby league and those injuries weren’t just tough in the context of this season. We always talk about premiership windows, and the Roosters’ was well and truly open; but what about now? With Luke Keary, Joey Manu and Joseph Suaalii moving on, and Walker and Smith injured long-term, they’ve been significantly weakened moving forward.

The Sharks are an improved football team and won in Melbourne back in Round 10, with Daniel Atkinson in the halves; Atkinson, by the way, is another utility who developed as a playmaker through the Storm system. It was curious that Cronulla were winning with Atkinson running the show, then had a run of losses when Nicho was back. They won on the weekend with Nicho in command at No.7, putting the cleaners through Manly, which was vital for them heading into the finals.

You hear it so often, but finals footy is different. Have Cronulla learned their lessons from the past couple of years? We’ll see. This is when the real pressure starts and it’s hard to back them with any confidence when they’re yet to prove they can win finals games.

The two smokies for mine are the Cowboys and Sea Eagles.

If North Queensland can defend as they did to beat Canterbury 44-6, I absolutely give them a hope. They have big players in all the right positions – Scott Drinkwater, Tom Dearden and Reece Robson in the spine, plus Origin wingers, centres and forwards – to trouble any side if their defence can hold up for four games.

Manly will be heavily reliant on Tom Trbojevic. He not only has to be playing, but be at his best; same goes for Daly Cherry-Evans and Luke Brooks, who have dipped in form a touch. It then comes down to their forward pack, which hasn’t filled me with any confidence; though you can look to outstanding performances from Matt Lodge and Taniela Paseka against the Dogs recently as evidence that they have the required level in them. Can they lay that platform for four games?

NOT THIS SEASON

The Bulldogs and Knights both get a tick this season for making the finals, but it’s hard to see them progressing far in the series.

The Dogs have probably surpassed expectations. I didn’t have them in my top eight and I doubt that many did. They’ve had a great season, especially defensively, but I reckon they’ve been exposed in a few areas during big games. Namely in their forward pack, while they’re another side you have to question for depth of elite talent across the field, beyond the likes of Stephen Crichton and Matt Burton.

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The Knights are heavy reliant on one player. While Kalyn Ponga is one hell of a player, they need more threats around him to be considered a serious contender. Your credentials aren’t too stable when it consistently falls to one guy.

I’ve waxed lyrical here about Jahrome Hughes but if he’s quiet, then you’ve got Cam Munster, Harry Grant and Ryan Papenhuyzen. Four points of attack and four headaches for the opposition, rather than one from Newcastle.

Honestly, you see these more limited teams and then look at Brisbane’s roster, and you can’t help but think, ‘If only they’d made the finals … what might they have done with all those threats across the field?’ That thought will sting all off-season, as it should.