Friends turn into rivals for one day

AT Christmas, they sat sipping beers together overlooking Coolangatta’s Rainbow Bay.

Next Sunday, Storm coach Craig Bellamy and Cronulla’s Shane Flanagan will sit opposite each other shouting something totally different.

For the next seven days, the two mates will work out how they can best shatter each other’s hearts. They are mates.

But to Flanagan, “Bellyache” is also his mentor.

Flanagan will freely tell anyone who asks him this week, how much Bellamy has aided his coaching career.

The idea of sending his Origin players on holidays in July during the middle of the NRL season came from Bellamy.

With a club record-equalling five Origin players involved in the 2016 series, Flanagan’s ability to manage the playing and training loads of his high-profile stars was critical to the club’s pursuit of a first premiership.

So Flanagan found the notes he penned while working as the assistant to former NSW Origin coach Bellamy during the 2008-10 series.

“That period when I was involved with him for three years was probably the most I’ve learned about a lot of other things – not just football,” Flanagan said. “I used to pick at him for information on how he was going to do it (rest players), when and why.’’

The statistics are stacked against Flanagan and the Sharks. In their nine previous coaching clashes against each other, Bellamy leads 7-2.

The odds are against Cronulla and Flanagan. But you get the sense, that’s just the way they like it.