The secret sign one of NRL’s greatest-ever coaches Craig Bellamy could be preparing to walk away from the Melbourne Storm next year

Melbourne Storm supercoach Craig Bellamy may be considering a return to Queensland soon after building a huge property portfolio on the Gold Coast.

Bellamy, 64, agreed earlier this year to remain Melbourne coach for a 23rd year in 2025, but new signs suggest he may be considering a move north sooner rather than later.

Bellamy and his wife Wendy have a property portfolio worth an estimated $9 million in the Gold Coast suburb of Coolangatta, where they have four apartments.

The couple had a fifth apartment in the suburb, purchased for $875,000, which they recently sold for $1.56 million.

Their oldest apartment in the suburb is a one-bed apartment, bought for $190,000 in 2002, which is now valued at $830,000.

In 2010, the couple purchased a two-bed unit for $540,000, which is worth an estimated $1.45 million today.

Another of their apartments was purchased in 2020 for $1.35 million, which is now worth $2.8 million.

The Storm will play in the NRL grand final this weekend after another masterful season from Bellamy, who did not expect the side to clinch the minor premiership.

Bellamy and his wife have a property portfolio worth an estimated $9 million in Coolangatta

Bellamy, who turns 65 this week, has indicated he will continue working in the position next year.

“I have always maintained that I will only continue coaching if the coaches, players and club believe I still have something to offer,” Bellamy told melbournestorm.com.au.

“As I said last season, my focus now is on helping individuals learn and grow. If we can help players and coaches improve, the team will improve,” Bellamy said.

‘We now really have a solid list and I have seen this group of players grow both on and off the field over the past few seasons. They’ve already shown big improvement in the first few rounds of this season, but there’s a lot more to come for them and I’m excited about what that could look like.

“When I made this decision, I also wanted to make sure it wouldn’t hold back any of our coaches, who also make this club a great place to work.

“Our coaching group is very stable now and in my opinion they can all step up at any time and coach at NRL level today.”

Bellamy took on the senior coaching role at the Storm in 2003 and led the team to a semi-final in his first year.

Bellamy’s Storm side will take on Penrith in the NRL grand final on Sunday

Since then, the Storm have played in 21 finals series, winning the grand final five times and the minor premiership seven times.

Since his debut as head coach in 2003, Bellamy has developed into one of the most successful coaches in the NRL era.

He has won three premierships (2012, 2017 and 2020) and six minor premierships (2011, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024).

Bellamy has also been named Dally M Coach of the Year six times and Rugby League International Federation Coach of the Year twice.

In addition to Melbourne’s on-field achievements, Coach Bellamy also eased the club’s darkest days when they were stripped of their 2007 and 2009 premierships and the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships due to salary cap violations.

He has also shown his shrewdness as a coach by managing the high-profile departures of players such as Greg Inglis, Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and the Bromwich brothers, who have either moved to other clubs or retired over the past decade , without a dip in the team’s performance.

He has cultivated a new generation of talent including Harry Grant, Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Jahrome Hughes, propelling the team to second in the table after ten rounds this season.