This is a hard column to write. But the Storm have been getting away with their dark arts for too long
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:43 am
Former members of the Storm family are instructed not to talk about what happens inside the walls of the mixed martial arts compound.
Speak out of school and you’ll be exiled from the club. Forever.
How do we know this? Because I’ve written columns about what goes on at training inside the walls of Melbourne’s AAMI Park headquarters and witnessed the wrath of the Storm football department in full flight.
From spinning the annual Sydney conspiracy theories line to referencing Kylie Minogue or Taylor Swift, probably the most vicious element of the witch hunt that follows is Melbourne trying to figure out who’s broken ranks and talked out of school.
Two years ago I wrote a column taking fans inside Donohue’s Melbourne dojo where the brutal Storm training technique “shark bait” was laid bare.
Because the angle of the yarn was complimentary, there wasn’t an ensuing witch hunt.
But the Storm still did their due diligence to try and figure out who had talked.
Go back to 2008 when the grapple tackle, chicken wing, rolling pin and all the MMA defensive techniques were in full swing and you get the best example of what happens if you break ranks against the Storm.
I got a fringe Storm NRL player called Brett “Bumper” O’Farrell on the record about the lengths the Storm went to at training to employ the mixed martial arts techniques into the NRL.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy predictably blew a gasket and labelled O’Farrell’s claims “a load of crap”.
O’Farrell has since been exiled from the club, completely airbrushed from their history.
No longer invited to Old Boys Day, no longer welcome at any Storm function.
Not so long ago Storm champion Robbie Kearns accidentally threw him a bait to a Storm event. When O’Farrell questioned whether it had been cleared by Bellamy, Kearns told him it hadn’t and it was a loose carry from him that he’d sent it. Sorry mate, you’re still out was the message.
This is a tough column to write. Storm director of football Frank Ponissi is one of the best people I’ve met in more than 15 years covering rugby league and Bellamy is Australia’s version of champion NFL coach Bill Belichick.
The Storm are the benchmark sporting club in Australia. Premierships in 2012 and 2017 will attest to that, as will the fact under Bellamy the only year they’ve missed the finals was when they got kicked out for salary cap rorting.
No one is suggesting mixed martial arts isn’t a completely legitimate sport. It’s a great form of exercise, self-defence and discipline.
But does it belong in rugby league? That’s the debate.
Here’s an idea to stop the Storm’s annual blow-up about the Hume Highway conspiracy theories aimed at bringing them down. Let’s throw open the doors and we’ll bring the cameras in and show everyone exactly what goes on inside Donehue’s dojo.
And not just the friendly PR-piece where it’s all just smoke and mirrors for the cameras.
But the full blown “shark bait” training sessions.
If the Storm are willing, we’ll happily come and show fans what really goes on in there.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 1565947750
Speak out of school and you’ll be exiled from the club. Forever.
How do we know this? Because I’ve written columns about what goes on at training inside the walls of Melbourne’s AAMI Park headquarters and witnessed the wrath of the Storm football department in full flight.
From spinning the annual Sydney conspiracy theories line to referencing Kylie Minogue or Taylor Swift, probably the most vicious element of the witch hunt that follows is Melbourne trying to figure out who’s broken ranks and talked out of school.
Two years ago I wrote a column taking fans inside Donohue’s Melbourne dojo where the brutal Storm training technique “shark bait” was laid bare.
Because the angle of the yarn was complimentary, there wasn’t an ensuing witch hunt.
But the Storm still did their due diligence to try and figure out who had talked.
Go back to 2008 when the grapple tackle, chicken wing, rolling pin and all the MMA defensive techniques were in full swing and you get the best example of what happens if you break ranks against the Storm.
I got a fringe Storm NRL player called Brett “Bumper” O’Farrell on the record about the lengths the Storm went to at training to employ the mixed martial arts techniques into the NRL.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy predictably blew a gasket and labelled O’Farrell’s claims “a load of crap”.
O’Farrell has since been exiled from the club, completely airbrushed from their history.
No longer invited to Old Boys Day, no longer welcome at any Storm function.
Not so long ago Storm champion Robbie Kearns accidentally threw him a bait to a Storm event. When O’Farrell questioned whether it had been cleared by Bellamy, Kearns told him it hadn’t and it was a loose carry from him that he’d sent it. Sorry mate, you’re still out was the message.
This is a tough column to write. Storm director of football Frank Ponissi is one of the best people I’ve met in more than 15 years covering rugby league and Bellamy is Australia’s version of champion NFL coach Bill Belichick.
The Storm are the benchmark sporting club in Australia. Premierships in 2012 and 2017 will attest to that, as will the fact under Bellamy the only year they’ve missed the finals was when they got kicked out for salary cap rorting.
No one is suggesting mixed martial arts isn’t a completely legitimate sport. It’s a great form of exercise, self-defence and discipline.
But does it belong in rugby league? That’s the debate.
Here’s an idea to stop the Storm’s annual blow-up about the Hume Highway conspiracy theories aimed at bringing them down. Let’s throw open the doors and we’ll bring the cameras in and show everyone exactly what goes on inside Donehue’s dojo.
And not just the friendly PR-piece where it’s all just smoke and mirrors for the cameras.
But the full blown “shark bait” training sessions.
If the Storm are willing, we’ll happily come and show fans what really goes on in there.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 1565947750