Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has been diagnosed with an unspecified neurodegenerative disorder following a series of medical tests in recent weeks.

The 66-year-old will lead the team against the Dolphins on Friday night and continue in his role after specialists advised it “will not have an impact on his ability to coach the team in the immediate future”.

Melbourne are in the midst of their worst start in years, sitting 16th on the NRL ladder with just two wins from their first eight games.

“Despite our recent results, I firmly believe Craig is still coaching at an elite level and I have no doubt he is the right person to drive the club forward,” chairman Matt Tripp said.

“Craig has the full support of the board, players, coaches, and staff to continue leading the club as he has done for the last 24 seasons.”

The club didn’t provide any further details of the diagnosis but neurodegenerative disorders include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

The diagnosis would appear to cast some doubt on Bellamy’s long-term future with the Storm just months after he signed a new two-year contract.

It is also the latest off-field concern for Melbourne after Eli Katoa’s brain injuries suffered while playing for Tonga late last year and Tui Kamikamica’s recent stroke, with the former still sidelined but the latter eyeing off a return following a second round of surgery.

Storm’s announcement comes just days after it was revealed Bellamy had stepped down from his role as a senior adviser to the NSW Blues weeks out from State of Origin.

Meanwhile, the premiership-winning mentor cast doubt on Melbourne’s ability to bounce back this year following last week’s 48-6 loss to South Sydney at home.

He also offered the first suggestions that he was questioning himself.

“We might have to go downhill a little bit further, to be quite honest,” Bellamy said.

“At the end of the day, I’ve stuck with basically the same side the last six weeks and I think it’s time to make some changes.

“We haven’t got a whole heap of depth there with first-grade experience, but we’ll find a couple of guys that want to go out there and have a go, so that’s what we’ll do.

“I don’t know if starting again is the right term, but that’s what it feels like at the moment — just cut it back to its bare bones and let’s build again.”

Asked if he still had the dressing room, Bellamy responded: “That’s a good point, I might not have.”

Skipper Harry Grant quickly interjected and said it was on the players to work harder to turn the season around, not the coach.

“Yeah, he does, that’s a silly question, you don’t need to ask him that,” Grant said.

“He’s a modest guy and he’s probably going to look to himself for these results, but at the end of the day no one works harder than Craig.

“You come into the club every morning and he’s in here working.”

- with AAP