Stefano Utoikamanu has not been at the Melbourne Storm very long but knows exactly what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Craig Bellamy blow-up — the kind that leaves the walls shaking and rattles you to the core.
After conceding two costly penalties in possession of the football, a cardinal sin in Rugby League and one resulting in a sin bin, the big front-rower knew what might be coming.
This all happened in a heartbreaking golden-point defeat to the in-form Raiders in a crucial Round Nine matchup, where forward Trent Loiero was also put on report and conceded four penalties — one crucially helping the Raiders snatch victory.
Utoikamanu tried to retreat to one corner of the sheds, hoping his coach might go easy on him. But there was no hiding from Bellamy’s fury.
MORE: Star blames "dumb footy" for golden point loss
Bellamy slammed the discipline and standards of his side and he let his two forwards know that very clearly in the aftermath after he singled them out.
“I felt like s***,” Stefano Utoikamanu laughs of his first major Bellamy bake. “But it needed to happen.”
While the spray stung at the time, it ultimately helped push Utoikamanu to a higher level and set the standard on what Craig Bellamy and the Storm are all about.
He would soon earn a NSW Origin call-up and likewise Trent Loiero, who thrived under Bellamy’s watch, forced his way into a surprise Queensland debut as well.
Both forwards credit Bellamy’s fierce standards — and his occasional well-timed blast — for pushing their form onto rugby league’s biggest stage when not many gave either a hope of playing Origin football.
“It looks like he’s angry all the time, but he’s not,” Utoikamanu says. “He likes to have a joke, especially in team meetings. He takes the p*** out of the boys. He’s done it to everyone.”
“I don’t remember what he said about me, but he puts you up in front of the boys and it’s a good laugh. I think that’s what makes him so good. There are two sides to him; one people don’t really see.”
Bellamy’s legendary sprays might make the highlight reels, but for Utoikamanu and Loiero, they also set the standard and became the spark that helped transform them into Origin players.