If being stripped of two NRL premierships and three minor premierships for major salary cap breaches was the lowest point of Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy's career, then 2011 is clearly the high point.

Bellamy, who on Tuesday night was crowned the Dally M coach of the year, emerged from the wreckage that was the 2010 Storm season by dragging his shellshocked team to the minor premiership.

"Especially after what happened last year, to build the club back up to where we want to be and where we expect to be was a really big job," Bellamy said after receiving his award.

The former NSW mentor had to deal with a decimated squad which lost six representative players, but managed to become the NRL's dominant force again by building around his brilliant trio of Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk.

"It was pretty tough last year too I must say. It certainly wasn't easy. Half our squad came in and to get them to play the way that we want to play, our style, was a big job at the start of the season," he said.

"But the guys who came in really bought into the way we wanted to play and the things we wanted to do.

"I'd like to pay a really big compliment to the three players (Smith, Slater and Cronk), they call them the big three, but I think they've been the main ingredient to what we've done this year.

"They've been fantastic on the field but they've been unbelievable off the field as well."

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