Updated ,first published
Melbourne Storm star Jahrome Hughes says his teammates have rallied around coach Craig Bellamy following the heartbreaking news that he has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder.
Bellamy made the news public last week with Hughes among the senior players who received a phone call beforehand from the 66-year-old coach with the shocking news.
Bellamy, who has not specified what condition he is battling, wants to coach out the year and Hughes said he hadn’t seen any change in his mentor’s workrate or coaching style.
“He’s been really good to be fair,” Hughes said on Wednesday.
“He had the news earlier and I know he didn’t want to share the news as he doesn’t want the attention on him.
“He’s doing really well and I don’t see a change in him. He’s exactly the same and, at a time like this, we have to get around him but not too much as he barely likes a handshake when you see him in the morning.
“I still have faith in him to be our coach.”
While Bellamy has yet to speak publicly since the Storm announced his condition, Hughes said the players were making the most of their time with Bellamy who is signed until the end of 2028 but will likely need to reassess those plans.
“I’m probably like, ‘You should go look after yourself and do what’s best for you’,” Hughes said.
“But he’s happy doing this. This is his life and I know he really enjoys being around this group and coaching this group and helping around the boys and we absolutely love it as well.
“To see him sacrifice that stuff at a time when he’s going through tough things – it inspires us.”
The Storm are trying to end a seven-game losing streak when they host Wests Tigers at AAMI Park on Sunday and Hughes agreed the players were making the most of his time with his coach.
“You have to look at it like that now,” Hughes said.
“I’ve been very, very lucky to spend a lot of time with him. I think, with the way he is, he will be able to go forever but it makes it a little more special spending that time with him now.”
Hughes has been named to play against the Tigers after suffering a concussion against South Sydney and playing “one of the worst games of his career”.
Hughes still had to complete some training sessions this week but expects he will be right to play on Sunday.
“I know there is some pressure on us as a spine to perform and I probably had the worst game I have played in my career in that Souths game as I was trying to do too much,” Hughes said.
“Yes, we as a spine have to create stuff but if we try to do everything ourselves, it’s not going to work.”
Parramatta eye Cowboys forward to offset injury crisis
Adrian Proszenko
Parramatta have identified North Queensland forward Harrison Edwards as a potential immediate signing in a bid to help alleviate the club’s debilitating injury toll.
The Eels are in the market for reinforcements in a bid to resurrect their NRL premiership campaign that has been cruelled by unavailability of key personnel. Hooker Ryley Smith suffered a sternum injury in Saturday’s night’s loss to the Warriors and is a member of an injury ward that includes Isaiah Iongi, J’Maine Hopgood, Bailey Simonsson, Matt Doorey, Sam Tuivati and Kitione Kautoga.
Parramatta’s biggest off-season recruit, half Jonah Pezet, made his way back from a hamstring strain in the NSW Cup last weekend alongside fellow comeback kid Jordan Samrani (knee).
The Eels have signed Dragons forward Jaydn Su’A to a three-year contract that begins next year, but are hopeful he may be able to make an immediate switch. It remains to be seen whether the Dragons are prepared to release Su’A, who is suspended.
Regardless, the Eels’ forwards stocks are skinny and other targets are being pursued. Sources not authorised to speak publicly have told this masthead that Parramatta are in talks with the Cowboys about the prospect of taking Edwards immediately. The clubs play on Friday, adding another layer of intrigue.
Edwards is a valued member of the North Queensland squad, but the forward has only made one NRL appearance this year, off the bench against the Tigers in round two. The 25-year-old is contracted to the Cowboys until the end of the year, but they are unlikely to stand in his way if he’s able to secure a longer-term deal elsewhere.
Edwards has made 54 first-grade appearances in a career that began at Canterbury and is looking at his best option to add to that number. Given team lists are announced on Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Ministers’ XIII representative is unlikely to secure a release in time to be considered for a debut against his former club.
With Pezet suspended for a hip drop in NSW Cup, Eels coach Jason Ryles has retained Ronald Volkman in the No.6 jersey against the Cowboys on Friday night after a series of strong performances.
Wests Tigers, meanwhile, have suffered a double injury blow with back-rower Samuela Fainu ruled out for 12 weeks with a foot injury and halfback Adam Doueihi out for six weeks after dislocating his right shoulder in a heavy defeat against Cronulla on Sunday.
With the Tigers missing several other leading players, 20-year-old Heath Mason has been picked to start at fullback against Melbourne on Sunday, pushing Sunia Turuva to the wing.
Addo-Carr hoping chemistry with Mitchell can conjure up Origin recall
Christian Nicolussi
Josh Addo-Carr is optimistic his on-field chemistry with good friend Latrell Mitchell on the left edge can help him win a State of Origin recall and a first NSW appearance since 2023.
Penrith’s Brian To’o will be on one wing for the Blues, while the weekend injury to Mark Nawaqanitawase, who was seen as a leading candidate to replace Zac Lomax on the other flank, has left coach Laurie Daley assessing his options with just two NRL rounds left before he names his squad for game one.
Parramatta flyer Addo-Carr, South Sydney’s Campbell Graham, Panthers try-scoring machine Tom Jenkins, his teammate Casey McLean, who has played on the wing for New Zealand, and Manly’s Tolu Koula all deserve to be in the conversation.
Even Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton has the versatility to play out wide, with his big body ideal for getting the Blues on the front foot to start their sets.
Addo-Carr was a regular for the Blues until the end of the 2023 campaign, after which Lomax – now playing rugby for the Western Force – was preferred.
While the 30-year-old has always been known for his huge personality, which helps lift the mood in representative camps – he was popular during last year’s Ashes tour with the Kangaroos – Addo-Carr has a bond with left centre Mitchell. A left-wing spot would also allow To’o to remain on the right, where he plays each week for Penrith.
Daley knows club combinations and on-field chemistry are a bonus, but also not a deal-breaker when it comes to the final make-up of his side.
“We’re really close outside of footy, and to put the Blues jersey on again with my bruh, it would be an absolute honour,” Addo-Carr told this masthead said about a potential return to the Blues alongside Mitchell.
“I would love to make some good memories with him, and hopefully lift that shield up. That’s what it’s all about. It’s always the goal to play for NSW. My main focus is getting better every day, which is what ‘Rylsey’ [Eels coach Jason Ryles] speaks about. I’m trying to lead with my actions, and compete on the stuff people really don’t see, and doesn’t require talent.
“I’ve never taken Origin for granted, that’s for sure. It’s a privilege to be a part of that team and arena. If I get the call-up, whatever my job needs to be, I’ll give it a red-hot crack.”
Graham has height and power and the advantage of also slotting into the centres if needed, where he has played for Souths.
The 26-year-old Graham has been in and around NSW camp in recent years and has already played for Australia.
“Every year that’s the goal for me, and it’s no different this year,” he said. “I feel like I’m finding my feet since shifting to the wing, but I feel like I’ve been building.”
While the Blues have a number of stars unavailable because of injury, there was some brighter news with Roosters back-rower Angus Crichton an outside chance of overcoming an MCL injury to be fit for the May 28 series opener in Sydney.
Brutal road run after surgery convinced Ramsey he could make incredible comeback
AAP
An emotional Cody Ramsey has revealed how a joke from a doctor and brutal four-kilometre road run hours after leaving hospital convinced him he could one day return to the NRL.
Ramsey on Saturday night completed the most inspirational comeback of this decade, overcoming a battle with ulcerative colitis to make it back to the top grade.
Called onto the Sydney Roosters’ wing to replace Mark Nawaqanitawase in the 38-24 win over Brisbane, Ramsey hailed his return as “way better” than any debut.
During an agonising 1337 days between NRL games, the winger spent seven months in a hospital bed, lost 27kg and had to learn to eat again. He had his large bowel removed, had to go to the toilet 40 times a day, at one stage fearing it had made his life “unliveable”.
At times Ramsey asked doctors to put him into an induced coma so he could no longer feel the pain, while also dealing with the risk of life-threatening sepsis infections.
An ever-growing family with his partner Tahlia and rugby league remained a beacon of hope, despite the 26-year-old being told by doctors he would never play again. But his outlook changed when a surgeon at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse jokingly asked him to go easy on his Wests Tigers upon his return.
“He was the one cutting me open, doing the reversals,” Ramsey said. “So I was like, ‘If he thinks I’m going to do it, then it’s only up to me. If I can get myself back and myself right and do the right things, then why can’t I do it?’
“If you see a 62kg human being walking around saying he’s going to go play NRL again, it’s very easy not to believe him. But I did. My family did. I could easily not have done it, but I’ve got to live inside my own head for the rest of my life if I didn’t give it a go.”
Ramsey wasted little time in trying to push his cause, at one point tested himself just hours after leaving hospital from one of several operations.
“We’d checked out of hospital, and I just said to my missus, I’m just going to run [four kilometres] to dad’s house,” the Molong product recalled. “And if I don’t do it, I’ll never make it back into football.
“I had a wound on my stomach, my phone in my hand in case something went wrong. I remember as I was running down Dapto Highway, I was 62 kilos. It honestly took me forever. It nearly killed me.
“But once I’d done it, I was like, ‘I can do it’. This condition, it’s so mental. It’s all in your head.”
After noticing something was wrong when he began passing blood on the toilet in 2022, Ramsey returned to St George Illawarra training in May 2024 and played NSW Cup last year before moving to the Roosters.
Even by the point of Saturday night’s return, Ramsey remains 10kg lighter than his 2020 debut as a 20-year-old at the Dragons. All the while, he has convinced himself it is a case of mind over matter.
“For the whole year, I felt like I needed to go to the toilet every time I ran,” Ramsey said. “But I was like, what’s the worst that’s going to happen to me?
“I’m going to shit my pants. That’s it, that’s the worst. And then I didn’t that one training session. And then I didn’t that week. And then I didn’t that month. And then I get into the game, and I didn’t do it. It’s just something in your head that tells you that you’re not going to do it.”
AAP
