League coaching legend Wayne Bennett is not surprised Craig Bellamy has rejected the Warriors to remain at NRL premiers Melbourne next season.
Bennett, one of eight sporting luminaries inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in Melbourne, says the Storm's talent and success under Bellamy make club and coach a perfect fit.
Bellamy spent five years as Bennett's assistant in Brisbane before taking over the Storm in 2003. He has one more year on his Storm contract but his future remains unclear beyond the end of next season. However, Melbourne officials have made it clear they want him to stay as coach.
"Craig's a pretty smart bloke," Bennett said. "When he's got the talented players he's got here, the success he's had here, it'd be pretty hard to leave and I don't know why he'd want to leave. They (the Storm) would be silly to lose him."
Bennett, the Newcastle coach and a seven-time premiership winning coach who is recognised as the best of his generation, was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside another Knights legend - former star Andrew Johns. It was Johns' second individual honour in the space of a fortnight after he became a league Immortal late last month.
