Bellamy's $2m sacrifice as Melbourne close in on big grand final advantage

In a bombshell revelation ahead of Sunday's NRL grand final, it has been revealed that the Parramatta Eels tabled the biggest coaching contract in NRL history to try and lure Craig Bellamy away from the Storm. Sunday night's clash against Penrith will mark Bellamy's 10th grand final in charge of Melbourne and it could have been his last in purple if Parramatta had their way. The Eels were on the hunt for a new coach following the axing of Brad Arthur and attempted to persuade Bellamy to leave Melbourne by offering him a whopping $10 million deal - the richest coaching contract in rugby league's 116-year history according to News Corp. Parramatta ended up signing Jason Ryles as their new coach but it was only after they made moves for two of the biggest coaching names in the game. There was plenty of chatter after Arthur's sacking about the Eels going after Wayne Bennett. But it was revealed this week that he wasn't the only big-name coach on Parramatta's radar, with a $2.5million a season four-year deal tabled for the Melbourne Storm leader. The 65-year-old is on $2 million a year at Melbourne and therefore forewent a staggering $2 million by snubbing the Eels to stay at the Storm. And Storm chairman Matt Tripp says he is fully aware that other clubs have and can offer Bellamy more than the $2 million a year he earns at the Storm but is confident he would never leave the club to join a rival team. "The truth is Craig has been offered much more money by other clubs than we can give him," Tripp told News Corp. "If Craig was motivated just by money, he would have taken the offers and we wouldn’t have him anymore. "I’d be incredibly surprised if Craig got the urge to go to another club, or even a start-up (expansion) club, because of his familiarity with Melbourne and what he has created here. To be honest, the greatness of Craig is that he is coaching better now than he ever has. He’s contracted with us until 2026 and we’ve got a rolling arrangement where in March or April each year, Craig has a think about things. He will tell me whether he was to stay as head coach or move into a mentoring role." Bellamy - who has been weighing up retiring from coaching for the past couple of years - is in the midst of a five-year deal with the Storm which runs until the end of the 2026 season. How long he continues to coach remains unclear and as part of his current five-year deal, he can transition into another role at the club if he wishes to step away from coaching.