Just when we thought we'd seen everything in rugby league, Craig Bellamy has given Cameron Smith the bird in a hilarious mid-game exchange between captain and coach.
Bellamy was a rollercoaster of emotions, as he so often is in the coaches box, throughout Melbourne's wild clash with the Tigers in which they prevailed 50-22 to seal second spot on the ladder.
A perennial perfectionist, the two-time premiership-winning coach was seen berating his team at one stage of the first-half, despite the Storm holding a three-try lead, after they let in an easy Tigers try.
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But in arguably one of his finest moments as a coach, Bellamy was caught by the Fox League cameras sticking up his middle finger at Smith in the second stanza after the Storm skipper crossed for a bizarre four-pointer.
The GOAT! #NRLStormTigers pic.twitter.com/Ibm0jMWOa5
— Martin Gabor (@MartinJGabor) September 19, 2020
Smith and his Storm teammates could be seen cheekily jeering up at their coach in the box after the Bunker awarded Smith a try after a scrappy play the ball in which the Storm veteran toed the ball into the in-goal and planted it down.
Smith was smothered by his Storm teammates in celebration before they all turned up to the box at Bellamy pointing their fingers at their coach in laughter.
As cameras panned to Bellamy, he could be seen shaking his head while smirking before raising the middle finger salute at his skipper.
It was then revealed both Bellamy and Smith had a running bet for who could score the most tries in their career, with Smith's cheeky try taking his tally to 48, past Bellamy's 47 total tries as a Raiders player between 1982-92.
"There has been a bet going on with these two all season and Cameron Smith got denied last week,” Corey Parker said during Fox League's coverage.
“This time he gets it and the old GOAT looks up to the coach and says get that into ya, I have just passed ya.”
Asked about the exchange after the game, Bellamy attempted to have the last laugh.
"It was a scrappy old try, I thought he dead set knocked it on," the Storm coach laughed.
"I have to apologise for my reaction when they all started looking up at the box and laughing at me. I just sort of stuck it up and I'm surprised the camera caught me actually, for anyone that takes offence to that I'm sorry.
"The only thing I can feel ok about is it took him 428 games to get there and I got mine in about 140 or something, 150."
