MELBOURNE coach Craig Bellamy has taken aim at Brisbane’s Wayne Bennett, accusing the fellow NRL supercoach of double standards fuelled by Storm’s late season resurgence.

Talk of Melbourne’s so-called wrestling defensive style has been a talking point after its brilliant 20-18 win over the Roosters in the qualifying final.

Bennett made a point of talking up the “entertaining” style of play in his side’s qualifying final victory over North Queensland at the weekend, while also taking a thinly-veiled swipe at Storm.

Bellamy, who was once Bennett’s assistant at Brisbane, believes his former boss should not be on the NRL Rules Committee and accused him of changing his tune from when he was coaching the Dragons.

INSTIGATOR: Bennett slams ‘hypocritical’ Storm

media_camera Four Melbourne Storm players wrestle Sam Moa to the ground.

“I remember in 2010 when St George were criticised a lot for being a boring team and Wayne said he didn’t give a rat’s arse,” Bellamy said.

“Nor should he of and they ended up winning the comp.

“But now, because he has a team that can play what we see as exciting footy with his young halves, now he wants everyone to play his sort of footy.

“The score in that game was 16-12 and in our game it was 20-18, so there were two more tries scored, so is that exciting footy or is there some other thing such as making breaks and not scoring tries? I don’t know.”

Melbourne and Brisbane are on a collision course and will meet in the grand final if both sides win next weekend.

Bellamy said he takes the criticism of his side’s style as a compliment as he prepares Storm for its preliminary final at AAMI Park on Saturday week.

“They’ve all got their own agendas and they all sort of play them out in the press, which Wayne has been doing for years and will keep doing,” Bellamy said.

“But to me, I get a bit out of that because they must be a little concerned about us if they’re watching us and mentioning us.”

media_camera Wayne Bennett (R) and his former assistant Craig Bellamy.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson complained of Storm slowing down the ruck after his side’s loss to Melbourne last Friday night.

Both Bennett and Robinson are members of the NRL Rules Committee, which Bellamy believes is not on.

“I don’t think coaches should be involved in that,” he said.

“If you’ve got coaches there, they’re naturally going to do what is best for their team.”

Bellamy said Robinson’s claims took away the credit his players deserved for the upset win.

“I can guarantee we haven’t changed anything all year with our defensive pattern systems or techniques,” he said.

“It is funny how it (this talk) always comes up at this time of year.”

Originally published as Bennett lights fire, Bellamy adds fuel