Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy will make a decision on his future within weeks

Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy says he needs to “sort out” a few personal things and wants to tell club officials within the next few weeks whether he’ll take up his option to coach into a remarkable 24th season in 2026.

As Bellamy prepared to take on the Dolphins, a team he’s never lost to, on Good Friday, the master mentor has moved his future closer to the front of his mind than it has been.

Bellamy, 65, conceded he needed to make a decision “reasonably soon” so the club could find a replacement should they need it, although he gave little inclination which was he was leaning.

“I’ve got one year to go on contract so it’s just whether you know I sort of take that up but yeah hopefully in the next couple weeks I’ll make a decision,” he said on Thursday.

“I need to make a decision for myself but I know I need to make a decision for the club too. If they move on with someone else well they earlier that happens you know the better for them.

“I’ve just sort of been trying to put all my concentration on what I need to do to help the team get off to a good start this season and as we get into it we’ll have to make a couple of those decisions and but like I said it’ll be sooner rather than later.”

Bellamy said his link to the playing group remained strong and could play a key role in his decision.

“They’re a good group to work with,” he said.

“Like I say, there’s just a couple of things personally that I’ve got to sort out and go from there.

“In the next couple of weeks I’ll work that out.”

Storm has won all three encounters with the Dolphins, with a total scoreline reading 102-46.

Bellamy said he was hopeful star halfback Jahrome Hughes would play after hurting his shoulder last weekend and then playing on until halftime in what the coach labelled a “brave” effort.

“You know, I think we’re reasonably confident he should be OK,” he said.

“He’s been tremendous for us, to see how he was the other day when he got hurt and then, you know, to finish that half off, yeah, it was plenty of resilience.

“We know how tough he is ... but like I said, what he done last week was very brave, you know, to finish that half off, you know, how bad he was there at half time.”

Bellamy couldn’t given an insight into when winger Will Warbrick and big man Nelson Asofa-Solomona would return as they continue to battle concussion issues.

“It has taken a lot longer than what we thought for both of them,” he said.

“It’s a thing that you know we’ve got no control over really and probably they haven’t either.

“They need to be in the hands of our medical people and when they get the OK, that’s when they’ll come back.”