Jahrome Hughes says the secret to Craig Bellamy’s success as Melbourne Storm coach comes down to one simple thing

Dally M medallist Jahrome Hughes says the regular sight of master coach Craig Bellamy “flogging himself” in the gym serves as a daily reminder that hard work remains the greatest element of any success he and his Melbourne Storm teammates will have.

Hughes, who was crowned the NRL’s player of the year on Wednesday, also seized “underdog” status for his team ahead of Sunday’s grand final showdown, declaring the “well-oiled” Penrith machine, aiming for a fourth-consecutive premiership, remained the benchmark all other teams have to rise to.

Despite boasting their own star-studded spine of Hughes, enigmatic five-eighth Cameron Munster, superstar fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen and revered captain Harry Grant, the Storm halfback said there could be no margin for error against Nathan Cleary and the precise Panthers.

“You look at what Penrith has been able to do the last couple of years and how good they are as a team and as a club as well. You can’t underestimate the club,” Hughes said.

“They’ve lost a lot of good, great players, I guess, over the last couple of years and they still managed to be the benchmark.

“(Cleary) is such a special player. His influence on that team’s huge, but then you look at the other guys in their team as well.

“Dylan Edwards had a great year. Jarome (Luai) has had an awesome year, especially he played really well while Nathan’s out, and then Nathan comes back in there.

“You know, they’re still a well-oiled machine, they’re going to be dangerous.

“We’re confident in our own ability. We need to go out there and execute, but they’re a pretty good team, so we’re going to need to be on.”

Hughes said he’d be “lying” if he said he wasn’t feeling the pressure this week as the hottest player in the NRL and would lean on the calming voices of his teammates, knowing how crucial his leadership will be to a Storm victory.

“I think the most pressure is trying not to get the coach blowing up at me. That’s what I’m worried about the most,” he joked.

“There’s always a lot of pressure, but I feel like the boys around me really helped me out, especially the leaders in our team and especially my own little group on the right edge there.

“They sort of calmed my nerves for me a little bit, and I try not to show it as much as possible because I don’t want the boys feeding off that.”

What the players like Hughes do feed off is Bellamy’s relentless work ethic – despite the coach turning 66 on Thursday – which, beyond anything else, is Storm’s “secret” to sustained success.

Sunday’s grand final will be Bellamy’s 10th as Storm coach across his two decades in charge.

“I think it’s just the way he goes about his trade and how he likes building the club, the team on hard work,” Hughes said.

“And I think if you’ve got a bunch of blokes that are willing to work hard in the pre-season and work hard for each other during the season, I think you’re going to go all right in this competition.

“I think the way he does it – and it starts from the top, from him – he works really hard in video and when you see him flogging himself in the gym every morning it’s hard not to want to play for a bloke like that.

“I think we can be dangerous here, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work from everyone in our team.”