MELBOURNE'S senior players are considering backing Cameron Smith to become the game's first captain-coach in two decades.

The Storm are sweating on the future of coach Craig Bellamy, who is weighing up a $6 million offer to join St George Illawarra.

According to a well-placed source, the players are adamant the next head coach should come from within.

And there's a growing belief the perfect candidate could be Smith, regarded as one of the NRL's shrewdest thinkers.

Smith is the most accomplished leader in rugby league, having guided Melbourne, Queensland and Australia on a trophy rampage last season.

Provided the current assistant coaching staff are retained, the players believe Smith could make the transition while still wearing his boots.

"The big thing for the boys is the club's culture," the source said. "They don't want a new coach coming from outside who might change that.

"They think Cameron could join the coaching staff and do the job, because he has been instrumental in building the culture and he already knows all the systems that work."

Melbourne already have two of the game's highest-profile assistant coaches working under Bellamy: David Kidwell and Kevin Walters.

Both were in contention for head roles at rival clubs last year, while Walters has also served a Super League apprenticeship with Les Catalans.

media_camera Storm coach Craig Bellamy and captain Cameron Smith hold the NRL premiership trophy aloft in front of a large crowd of Melbourne fans. Picture: Michael Klein

Melbourne give senior players such as Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater plenty of input into discipline and playing standards.

When Bellamy started questioning himself amid Melbourne's five-game losing streak last July, he turned to those very players for support and duly won the premiership.

The last player to captain-coach was Wally Lewis, who managed to win only a handful of games while in charge of the now-defunct Gold Coast Seagulls in 1992.

The Roosters appointed the pervious three: Hugh McGahan (1990), Bob Fulton (1979) and Arthur Beetson (1978).

"It's not something that has been seriously considered in our game for a long time," said Maroons assistant coach Michael Hagan, who has worked alongside Smith for two years. "But Cameron could be an exception to the rule. He's capable of most things, so I wouldn't rule it out.

"But coaching a team on the field and off it are two different things.

"The amount of planning that goes into training sessions is something to consider."

Bellamy is expected to announce his future in the next fortnight.

The outcome could also have ramifications on the ambition of New Limited (publisher of The Daily Telegraph) to sell the club.

Originally published as Storm players back coach Cam