Melbourne Storm head coach Craig Bellamy has laughed off any chance of the Melbourne Cricket Ground hosting the NRL grand final in future years.
It emerged this week that the Storm were pushing the idea of playing a grand final in the Victorian capital in the coming years.
The NRL have made it clear the grand final is for sale in recent times under the leadership of Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys.
At the present time, another one-year deal has been locked in with the New South Wales State government to keep the grand final in Sydney. It means the only time the deciding match has left Sydney in history was during the COVID pandemic.
The proposal for the game in Melbourne being backed by the Storm garnered attention, but Bellamy - speaking ahead of Saturday's clash with the Cronulla Sharks - said he can't see it happening.
“I'd like to see it there but I've got more chance of flying to the moon tomorrow than that happening,” Bellamy told the media on Friday per the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I come from NRL [heartland] in New South Wales and I've spent some time in Queensland as well and I can't see it happening.
“I don't think I will see it happen anyway.”
It's understood the Storm's proposal would see them take all the financial risk of the game, paying the NRL what they would usually expect to take as a profit, and then keeping any of the earnings from the match itself.
