Bellamy hope on impasse

MELBOURNE Storm boss Dave Donaghy is counting on the return of coach Craig Bellamy to resolve a contract stalemate with Cameron Smith (above) following reports the skipper is demanding a two-year deal.

Bellamy and long-time football manager Frank Ponissi are due back at work next week after a post-season fact-finding mission in the UK and Europe.

Initially seeking a one-year deal that would see him surge pass the 400-game mark, it is reported Smith is now chasing a two-year contract.

Donaghy said the 35-yearold was not holding the Storm to ransom with the extension but said the NRL club would not be walked over.

“It’s not a case as if Cam’s walked in and said, ‘I want two years or I’m walking out’,” he told SEN Breakfast radio yesterday.

“It’s also not a case that we’ve said, ‘ Here’s two years and would you like a foot rub as well’.

“For us it’s about ensuring the decisions we make into the future are in the best interests of the football club and collectively we all understand that.”

Donaghy said the club would consider the longer deal if it “worked for everyone”.

He said the club needed to balance the value of its ageing great and the financial worth of young stars.

Donaghy said the Storm was still to complete a deal with star five-eighth Cameron Munster but insisted the outcome of the Smith contract was not related.