Respected rugby league guru Phil Gould intervened with a simple text message that helped convince Melbourne supercoach Craig Bellamy to stick around. Speculation around Bellamy's future in the game raged last year, fuelled by the man himself admitting on several occasions he was split between retiring, leaving the Storm to take up another job, or staying put. Eventually he agreed to a new long-term extension with Melbourne, snubbing offers from Cronulla and Brisbane. Before he made that decision, he received a text message from Gould. "There was some talk earlier last year about Bellamy getting tired of some of the media coverage, and there was talk he might be going to give it away," Gould explained. "I actually sent him a message, I said 'you're not allowed to give it away. The game can't lose coaches like you, and we can't lose you in Melbourne. You can't deny the next generation of talent your mentorship'. "(I said) 'you don't get to decide when you retire, we'll carry you out in a box'. I sent that to him. "There's no retiring... the game needs you, Melbourne needs you, the kids of the future need you. We can't have these blokes retiring. "I know he's had a high-pressure and a marvellous career to date, Craig Bellamy. He probably never needs to work again, or be involved in football if he doesn't want to. But the game can't afford that.".
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