Cam Smith - 356 Games

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yourhero
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http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/melbou ... a57bceae7b

Queenslander and Melbourne Storm captain Cam Smith named Victorian sportsman of the year

Gilbert Gardiner
Herald Sun
MARCH 14, 2018

A QUEENSLANDER has been crowned Victorian sportsman of the year, with Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith honoured at the Victorian Sport Awards.

A QUEENSLANDER has been crowned Victorian sportsman of the year, with Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith honoured at the Victorian Sport Awards.

Smith, 34, who was born in Brisbane but lived in Melbourne for close to two decades, enjoyed a stunning 2017 campaign, captaining the Storm to the NRL premiership, Queensland to the State of Origin series and Australia to the Rugby League World Cup.

Other winners included: Richmond premiership coach Damien Hardwick as Victorian Coach of the Year, while Winter Olympian Britt Cox claimed Victorian Female Athlete of the Year.

Tour de France champion, Barwon Heads product, Cadel Evans collected the award for Outstanding Contribution to Victorian Sport, while the Victorian Bushrangers were named Team of the Year.

A panel of 32 judges selected the winners across 18 categories from hundreds of nominations.

Victorian Sports Minister John Eren congratulated all the winners last night at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

“Sport is about community. Victoria wouldn’t be the sporting capital without the hard work of our volunteers, players and fans – the very people that make our local clubs tick.”
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Melbourne captain Cameron Smith’s touching advice for axed Storm young gun Brodie Croft

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 50913f1768

MELBOURNE captain Cameron Smith has leapt to the defence of axed young gun Brodie Croft and claimed the rest of the Storm players can share the blame for him being dropped.

Croft was brutally punted by Storm coach Craig Bellamy following last week’s loss to the Wests Tigers in New Zealand.

Croft looked out of sorts and was heavily criticised for his performance against the Tigers, and was replaced in the side by the older Ryley Jacks for round 6.

Jacks looked solid as Melbourne rolled Newcastle, registering two try assists.

And Smith agreed Jacks had enjoyed a good performance when asked about his halfback in the post-game press conference.

But he took the opportunity to throw his support behind youngster Croft, who has stepped up to fill the shoes of champion half Cooper Cronk this year.

“(Croft and Jacks) are two totally different players to start with, let’s get that out there,” Smith began.

“But (Jacks) is an older player, he’s got a more mature head on his shoulders, he’s been around the game longer. So at certain moments in the game, or in certain plays, he tends not to get as flustered.

“In saying that we haven’t helped Crofty with the way we’ve played.

“It is very hard as a No. 7 in our game to come up with big plays when your team is not going forward, they haven’t got field position and we don’t hold the ball.

“That’s on everyone. Crofty hasn’t been putting all the balls down. There’s some errors around him, but who hasn’t made errors in our team this year?

“It’s not have a shot at Crofty night.

“But Jacksy played well tonight and he delivered that for us last year as well in the first half of the year when he was playing in our side, and we got good results around it.

“We’ll see what happens. I think Crofty is in a good frame of mind, he was pretty energetic this week.

Storm press conferenceStorm press conference5:59
“It’s hard to miss selection in the first grade side and go play in the reserve grade side but he will be better for it. He’ll go back there, he won’t feel as much pressure on him, and he can play the way he plays.

“A little reminder to himself if he gets another opportunity at first grade just to come and do that.”

Coach Bellamy gave no hint as to which halfback he would pick for next week’s game against the Broncos in Brisbane.
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They'll get to play together at Origin time. Personally I think Craig was always going to take a 50/50 path with the halves and then they'd come togrther at Origin. I think with Will having an enforced rest the opportunity was right to move Munster to the centres.
For the very limited amount I saw last night did I see Cameron roaming around as a half? Last 20 mins is all I saw and I noted Jesse and particularly NAS taking some fearful hit ups. I almost thought NAS was going to get on to Munster's toe ahead, of course the sly ole fox got there first!
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https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/04/20/the ... e-broncos/

He's played 33 games against them and won 25. He hasn't lost at Suncorp Stadium against the Broncos since 2009 and as captain of Melbourne he's won 10 of 11 games against Brisbane at the venue where he’s also played many great games for Queensland.

Wayne Smith reckons there is a part of his son, as a Broncos supporter as a youth, that instills him with immense pride whenever he takes on Brisbane.

"As much as proving to the Broncos that he took the right pathway it is about proving to himself that he did, and reinforcing that," Wayne said.

"It is not to show them up or to say ‘you didn’t offer me anything’ because they did offer him something and it was exactly the same as Melbourne.

"Suncorp Stadium is his favourite ground to play at and he has a lot of pride in his performance because there are a lot of childhood friends and family that go to watch him.
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http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/nrl ... 0cb1ade4b3

Cameron Smith poised to sign a one-year contract and play on in 2019
PETER BADEL, The Courier-Mail
April 21, 2018

MAROONS skipper Cameron Smith is set to shelve retirement plans and sign another NRL contract in a move that would see him become the last man standing of Melbourne’s Big Three in 2019.

Storm coach Craig Bellamy has revealed he expects Smith to suit up for a remarkable 18th season of NRL next year to help guide the club through the expected retirement of champion fullback Billy Slater.

Smith and Bellamy are both off-contract at season’s end, but the Storm coach told The Sunday Mail the duo, who have worked together for 16 years, will decide their futures independently.

It is understood Melbourne have devised a succession plan that includes Smith playing on in 2019, providing leadership stability to combat the anticipated retirement of Slater.

Veteran halfback Cooper Cronk stunned Storm bosses by joining the Roosters this season, shattering Melbourne’s Holy Trinity that included Smith and Slater.

Smith played his 365th first-grade game against Brisbane on Friday night and a 12-month extension will put him on track to become the first player in history to reach 400 NRL matches.

Smith, who turns 35 in June, said in pre-season that he was mindful of playing a year too long, but Bellamy believes the Queensland rake will wear Storm colours next season.

“I reckon Cam has another year or two in him,” Bellamy said.

“With older players, the key is whether they lose the desire to work as hard as they have to get where they have got.

“Some guys might lose a bit physically, but Cameron won’t have that issue.

“As he gets older, the issue will be his mindset and whether he wants to keep working hard to play at the level that he and his teammates expect of him.

“When he isn’t prepared to do that, that will be the time. But I don’t think he is ready to retire at the moment, I can’t see any reason why he won’t go on one more year at least.”

Smith and Bellamy have helped Melbourne to seven grand finals in 11 years, but the coach says if he quits the club at season’s end, it won’t influence the hooker’s decision.

“No, what I do won’t have an impact on Cam,” Bellamy said.

“At the end of the day, we’ve had a great run together, but I won’t make a decision based on whether Cam goes on and he won’t make his decision on whether I go on.

“It would be nice to finish together but I’m pretty sure it won’t come into my thoughts or Cam’s thoughts.

“It will be an individual thing.”

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, who handed Smith his Origin debut in 2003, believes the Australia hooker’s form is not on the wane.

“That’s up to him whether he plays on, I can’t tell you what he wants to do, but he has been a remarkable player and is still playing top football,” Bennett said.

Bellamy said Smith’s leadership and experience would be even more crucial if Slater decided to retire, as expected, this year.

“It feels surreal to me that I have coached this guy for 16 years,” Bellamy said.

“Anyone could have coached Cam because he honestly makes things easy for you.

“To have coached a guy who has played more games than anyone else in our sport, it’s a real privilege for me. Not only has Cam been a wonderful player, he’s just a great clubman as well.

“He has done so much for the Melbourne Storm.”
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yourhero
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Two more years please Smithy. Take em one at a time, that's all good. Share the role with Smithy #2 and provide the overall leadership and team direction as you sail off into immortality.
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Cameron Smith still has a few gears he can go up this year as well. At the moment, he is pacing himself. Wait till Origin and then the Finals where he starts to run with the ball from the play the ball. He hasn't really done that yet and is only distributing it to others. Cameron’s game goes up a notch or two when the big games are played and he starts running from scrimmage.
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He ran very well last week against the Knights. His form overall was a bit slow initially but has come on big time in the last 3 weeks.
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He is an Immortal, absolutely, but, how great would he have been if he'd played at the Eels, or Titans, or any struggling side? I have always wondered this point. Would he have lifted a side, any side or has he always been a great because of the great TEAM around him? And of course it is the (Melbourne) TEAM that I purposely underline, the concept of team that many other clubs struggle with)
Not fishing, not trolling but very legitimately asking a question.
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Bullucked wrote:He is an Immortal, absolutely, but, how great would he have been if he'd played at the Eels, or Titans, or any struggling side? I have always wondered this point. Would he have lifted a side, any side or has he always been a great because of the great TEAM around him? And of course it is the (Melbourne) TEAM that I purposely underline, the concept of team that many other clubs struggle with)
Not fishing, not trolling but very legitimately asking a question.
Cam is the greatest ever and comparisons of his greatest in another team are irrelevant imho...

I fully understand what you are asking and why...but it will never be answered so I just marvel in his absolutely absurdly magnificent greatness at Melbourne Storm... ;D
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Bullucked wrote:He is an Immortal, absolutely, but, how great would he have been if he'd played at the Eels, or Titans, or any struggling side? I have always wondered this point. Would he have lifted a side, any side or has he always been a great because of the great TEAM around him? And of course it is the (Melbourne) TEAM that I purposely underline, the concept of team that many other clubs struggle with)
Not fishing, not trolling but very legitimately asking a question.
I hate this argument against players. I like to think of it more as the Storm are great because of players like Smith, not Smith is great because of the Storm. As for this argument, I think you only have to look at the Storms record without him (not counting the state of origin affected games, as there is more the just Smith missing). The Storm are a much better team when Smith plays compared to when he doesn’t. 2008 gf is a prime example.

Michael Jordan is regarded as the best basketball player of all time. But he struggled to help the Wizards when joined them. They finished with a record of 37-45 during his time there, compare that to his 6 championships while he was at the Bulls with Scotty Pippen and the like. But nobody says Jordan wasn’t great because he failed at the Wizards
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Bullucked wrote:He is an Immortal, absolutely, but, how great would he have been if he'd played at the Eels, or Titans, or any struggling side? I have always wondered this point. Would he have lifted a side, any side or has he always been a great because of the great TEAM around him? And of course it is the (Melbourne) TEAM that I purposely underline, the concept of team that many other clubs struggle with)
Not fishing, not trolling but very legitimately asking a question.
It's an interesting argument but I feel he's among the greats regardless of who he's had around him.

I don't know if other people felt it, but even in his early years when he was rotating on and off as captain (I'm talking like 2006-07), I just always had the sense that regardless of who was picked if Cameron Smith was out there the Storm couldn't be stopped.

There were a number of games in 2006-07 where Slater, Inglis and Cronk were injured or suspended but Smith just lifted. I think the '08 Grand Final argument is part of this too. Great players like Andrew Johns, Darren Lockyer and Mal Meninga made players around them feel more comfortable by oozing confidence. In turn, their teammates all played better.

You could pose the same question about the two 49ers quarterbacks in Joe Montana and Steve Young. They both had great defensive players ensuring they had opportunities to use the ball, and had arguably the greatest wide receiver to throw the ball to in Jerry Rice. However, both are still considered to be greats.

You could also pose that question in a different light - if he played for the Eels or the Dragons (with the exact same success he's had in Melbourne), would the conversation be the same? Would a lot of people bring up the "referee" comments and reference his tackling style?
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https://www.nrl.com/news/2018/04/22/mel ... orkContent

Smith open to playing into 2021 NRL season

Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith hasn't ruled out playing next year and even beyond as far ahead as 2021.

The Storm captain, who is off contract at the end of the year, confirmed on Sunday that he hasn't begun discussions with club management about his future yet.

He also doesn't have any interest in replacing Craig Bellamy as coach - Storm recruitment manager Frank Ponissi told Triple M on Sunday the veteran mentor was set to re-sign in the next couple of weeks.

Smith, who is in his 16th season in the NRL and extended his all-time record another notch when he played his 364th game on Friday in the road win over Brisbane, also didn't rule out a two or three-year deal as a player as he ponders life after football with his young family.

"I haven't spoken to the club at all about next year," he said.

"My focus was about getting into this year and trying to help the team start the year well.

"Once the club are in a position to talk to me about next year, or a couple of years, or three years - whatever they're thinking - I'm happy to sit down and talk to them about it.

"Whether that's to play or not to play - I'm not too sure at the moment."

The 34-year-old rake didn't see himself playing on if he wasn't contributing to the team, and likewise isn't keen on a coaching role.

"I don't really see my future in the coaching ranks," he said.

"I don't have any desire to do that at all. I think for me, it's about if I'm still playing at my very best, I'd be still happy to play."

The Maroons and Kangaroos captain has endured a challenging start to the year, with the Storm slumping to a 2-3 record and Smith getting sin-binned for the first time in his career.

After bouncing back with a 34-20 win against the Broncos on Friday, the Storm back up on Wednesday for an Anzac Day showdown wth the red-hot Warriors who are 6-1 and co-leading the competition.

"The Warriors are playing fantastic - they're co-leaders of the competition - and look like they're enjoying their football, and playing some pretty good football as well," he said.

"This will be a good test for us. We played quite good in the last fortnight and want to make sure we're still trying to improve in the coming games."

Prop Jesse Bromwich is expected to miss four weeks, potentially as many as six, after suffering a medial tear on Friday night, while lock Dale Finucane will not be making a comeback this week from his thumb injury.
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Three weeks ago there were articles about him retiring :lol:
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Deadpool wrote: Michael Jordan is regarded as the best basketball player of all time.
Better than Ben Simmons? :P
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