Struggling to get through one of Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy's pre-season boot camps, White got to the point where he "pretty much quit on football".

"I thought 'if this is what you've got to do to play NRL, I'm heading home'," White said.

"Lucky enough you manage to somehow get through it and I got out the other end a different person I think."

Pushing himself to the brink of exhaustion was something White knew he had to do if he wanted to be a part of the Storm juggernaut that made four straight grand finals for two victories.

The man behind the Melbourne Storm has steered the club to the finals every year bar one since he took the reins in 2003. The year they missed was 2010, when the salary cap saga broke and the Storm were doomed to the wooden spoon.

The former Canberra Raiders premiership player has built a successful rugby league empire on hard work in a state where the code plays second fiddle by some margin.

White's former Melbourne teammate and current Raider Jeff Lima says the reasoning behind Bellamy's training methods is simple.

"It's to keep you mentally and physically ready for challenges during the year," Lima said.

"He's known for being a tough coach but when the footy is finished he has a beer with you. He's actually a good fella to be honest.

"He used to tell us all the time, hard work breeds a successful team. That's why every year they make the finals, because they work hard for each other."

Lima says part of the reason for Bellamy's sustained success is his family-first philosophy that makes the Melbourne mentor "more like a father" than a coach.

"He's good to all the boys, he'll laugh and pull a few jokes – he's that kind of person," Lima said.

But the image of Bellamy blasting whoever is on the other end of his walkie talkie has become iconic in rugby league circles.

The man affectionately known as 'Bellyache' has a well-publicised demeanour in the coaches' box when things don't go Melbourne's way.

His passion in the box burns so brightly it even scares a few of his own players.

"He loves a blow-up," Lima laughed.

"Most guys that are new are really really scared of him, they don't want to talk to him because they're scared of him and intimidated by him.

"But he's actually a good bloke to have a few beers with and just have a yarn."

White says the blow-ups only come because Bellamy isn't asking for rocket science – he is asking for simple things and expects them to be done properly.

"The game is a pretty simple game, and there he's very good at simplifying it, pretty much into hard work pays off," White said.

"That's pretty much the mentality down there. Hard work and good people creates success – very much the same as probably what Ricky Stuart's had for the success this year at Canberra.

"That's where their success has come and for well over 10 years it's been a part of what they do, and the success, it shows."

White and Lima were there when the kingdom came crashing down on April 22, 2010.

It was revealed the Melbourne Storm has been systematically cheating the salary cap for five years. Gone were the premierships, and gone was the 2010 season.

Melbourne were not allowed to play for points, meaning a last-placed finish was inevitable – White saying playing for nothing was "torture".

The coach was there through it all, and White says Bellamy guiding the club's return to the top is a testament to the man he is.

With nothing to play for, Bellamy worked his players into an "old-school mentality" and reminded the group of why they started playing the game.

"We sort of went into that mode where you're just playing for the love of it," White said.

"...That's just what we did every week – we went out and played for each other, and the rest is history."