Melbourne mentor Craig Bellamy says the leaders in rugby league need to show the honesty and loyalty they ask of players as the NRL's coaching merry-go-round continues to dominate the news cycle.
With Anthony Griffin departing the Panthers last week, Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary forced to deny he'd be replacing him, Trent Barrett reportedly on the way out of Manly this week and speculation about the future of Wayne Bennett at Brisbane, the focus on coaches has never been greater.
Bellamy, voted by NRL players as the best coach in the game, recently extended his stay in Melbourne until 2021, taking his head coaching tenure at the club to 19 years.
When asked about his take on the coaching talk plaguing the competition, he questioned whether the game's leadership were setting a good example for their players.
"There's a lot of things that happen during the 'coaching merry-go-round', or whatever you want to call it," Bellamy said.
"We try to lead the way and have our young men show respect to the game, their club, their teammates, and be honest and loyal.
"All those traits that we want in our players, probably leaders in our game aren't showing.
"It's not a great look, but it's what happening."
Storm v Eels - Round 23
Bellamy said he had his football department and the Storm to thank for his longevity at Melbourne.
"The support I've got around me with Frank Ponissi, our coaches, our performance department, our media department – there's so many good people in our club," he said.
"The support I get here, sometimes I'm the one who gets some credit for it – but it's a team effort. If you've got some people working against the tide, you're basically going to tip upside down at some stage."
Meanwhile, the Storm have a number of players racing the clock to be available for Friday's clash against the Eels.
Bellamy confirmed there were up to five who are battling injuries from last week's loss to Cronulla.
"Brandon Smith, Jahrome Hughes has a little bit of a knee injury, a couple of our forwards in that boat as well," he said.
"It's certainly not a distraction. It happens every time we have a five-day turnaround."
Melbourne sit in third spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder and will be out to avoid a rare third straight loss against an in-form Eels side.
"Most people probably had them in the top four, the way they played last year, for this year," Bellamy said.
"It looks like they have found that form. Their performance last week (a 40-4 win against the Dragons) was one of the best I've seen all year by any team."
