Sunshine Coast may be Storm’s new home

STORM coach Craig Bellamy has revealed Melbourne could be stuck in Queensland for the rest of the NRL season and will consider shifting their remaining home games to Sunshine Coast Stadium.

Melbourne has become Queensland’s adopted fourth NRL team with the Storm having set up camp at Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast ahead of tonight’s blockbuster against the Roosters at Suncorp Stadium.

The Storm were initially planning to stay for the next two weeks, but the spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria has left Bellamy resigned to his troops spending the next four months on Queensland soil.

Bellamy last week personally thanked the Warriors for their commitment to the NRL premiership in leaving home for so long and now the Melbourne coach faces a similar scenario for his Storm troops.

“We are going to be here for longer rather than shorter,” he said. “When we first were told (they were moving) it was two or three weeks at worst, but with the figures we got from the NRL, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were here (in Queensland) for the rest of the season.

“It depends on the numbers in Melbourne but I wouldn’t be surprised if we were here for most of the season.

“We were lucky to get out when we did.”

That scenario has triggered the prospect of the Storm staging their home games, usually slated for AAMI Park, at Sunshine Coast Stadium, which hosted last year’s NRL clash between Souths and the Warriors.

The Storm have played trial games on the Sunshine Coast and with Suncorp facing scheduling clashes with rugby union and the A-League, Bellamy says their round 10 clash against the Titans on July 17 could be moved north.

“I would love to play an NRL game here (on the Sunshine Coast),” he said. “We are in the throes of trying to play the Titans game here.”