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Craig Bellamy..."You've got to bring in the right players."

NSW coach Craig Bellamy plans to further incorporate past players in his Origin preparations - but only if they stop ''bagging'' his squad.

Former NSW players were invited into camp as part of game three preparations at Suncorp Stadium this year. The tactic was a success - the Blues upset the Maroons to prevent a clean sweep - and Bellamy intends to use the ploy again next year.

However, the Melbourne coach intimated that several greats would be unwelcome, as some of the criticism dished out by former Blues left his players ''dirty''.

''The times that I've been there, and a few years before that, my experience is that ex-players have been very critical of individuals in Origin teams,'' Bellamy told The Sun-Herald.

''You've got to bring in the right players for those sort of things because the current guys remember the bagging they got from ex-players. That wouldn't create a good environment, if a player has been bagged by an ex-player a couple of years before.

''[Former NSW forward] Bradley Clyde organised the ex-Origin players for the last game, and they all came up and had a beer on the first night of camp. Bradley went out on a limb to do that. I know the present players really enjoyed it, and the past players I spoke to enjoyed it, too.

''Hopefully [those ex-players will] feel free to be not so hasty in bagging individuals and offer more support than criticism.

''Criticism is fair enough when it's warranted, but some of the players I've coached over the past two years are a bit dirty at some of the criticism they've copped in the past from ex-players.''

Former Maroons are regular attendees at Origin bonding nights and many hold key positions as part of an extended coaching staff. Bellamy noted that ex-Queenslanders were more likely to rally their troops than criticise them.

''Queensland have been pretty tight with that sort of stuff,'' he said.

Despite presiding over successive series losses, Blues officials were desperate that Bellamy remained at the helm next year.

The Storm coach has always been mindful of not letting representative commitments affect his work at the club, but his fears of letting Melbourne down were allayed when the side performed another victory lap on grand final day.

''I've lost both series so I'm probably lucky to have the job at the end of the day,'' Bellamy said.

''It didn't come into the reckoning, whether we won or lost [the Origin series]. I'm just really keen to do the job again.''

The two-time premiership-winning coach believes he will be even better prepared for his third interstate campaign.

''I was probably a bit naive when I went into the first one,'' he said. ''I was a bit wiser this year, and hopefully I'll be a bit wiser next year.

''It's certainly a different mentality to the NRL, and I'm up to speed with the Origin mentality now.

''Last season we had a couple of bad periods in the first two games that cost us pretty dearly. Hopefully, we can be consistently good for the whole games.''

Bellamy's Blues will attempt to prevent a fifth straight series defeat to Queensland, but the coach's first priority will be the Storm's premiership defence.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/blues-baggers-not-welcome-in-bellamys-origin-camps-20091219-l6n8.html