Rugby league great and Queensland coach Mal Meninga says reports NSW and Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy is struggling to manage both roles are not surprising.

News Limited reported on Sunday that Bellamy was on the verge of standing down as Blues coach after deciding he couldn't manage both club and representative football duties.

Meninga, who coached the Maroons to a record fourth consecutive Origin win last Wednesday, said doing both jobs was tough.

"It's a tough gig because the (club) team suffers when you're away but it's been proven in the past that top coaches and can coach interstate successfully," he told AAP.

"But I think it might be a changing of the guard.

"Independent coaches away from clubs probably have a better way of preparing sides and a bit more time to make sure that all the logistics you need to get through an Origin preparation are fulfilled."

Storm assistant coach Stephen Kearney said Queensland's stellar performances, contributed to by Melbourne hooker Cameron Smith, had put Bellamy under stress.

But he said he and fellow Melbourne assistant coach Michael Maguire were perfectly capable of managing the side in his absence.

"It's been a stressful time for Craig over the last couple of weeks thanks to Cameron and his crew," Kearney joked after Sunday's loss to the Raiders in Canberra.

"But again it's something that he deals with fairly well and I think Michael and myself, we pick up where Craig leaves off so I think we do a fair job there and he's comfortable in leaving us to do that."

Smith, too, was quick to jump to Bellamy's defence.

"I think Craig is a great coach ... I know he's copping a bit of flack about the performance the other night but at the end of the day he's not the one that's out in that field," he said.

"There's 17 blokes who put in that performance."

But he conceded Meninga, coaching only one team, was probably at an advantage.

Bellamy refused to comment.

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