Melbourne Storm captain and NRL icon Cameron Smith is reportedly set to finally hang up the boots at the end of the 2020 season, third premiership or no, according to sources close to the 428-game stalwart.
The Queenslander, who has been tipped by many to be an instant addition to the ranks of the game’s Immortals, has remained coy about his future in the game in the leadup to the NRL finals.
Smith’s impending farewell has been headlining the media for weeks, particularly due to the fact boom rookie hooker Harry Grant — the shock star of the season — will refuse a return to loan club Melbourne if Cameron Smith is still in the number nine jersey come April next year.
That may not be a problem though: Smith has reportedly already warned Craig Bellamy and Melbourne’s backroom staff that 2020 will be his final year in the NRL.
Storm insiders say his 56th game at Suncorp next week will be his last NRL match on Queensland soil.
Smith is expected to announce his impending retirement “within the fortnight,” the Courier Mail writes.
First on the agenda, however, is a sudden-death clash with the red-hot Raiders next weekend.
There’s already been warning signs too. The Smiths just bought a house and a car on the Gold Coast, though the Storm captain isn’t expected to link up with the Titans on the Glitter Strip in 2021.
Then there’s his father: Smith Snr. is expected to be at Suncorp Stadium to watch what “could be his last ever game at the stadium].”
“It’s been a great ground for him, it’s where he made his Origin debut, so it will be quite emotional for all us to think this may be his farewell,” the future Immortals’ father continued. “Cam has come to the time in his life where his kids are growing up and he owes it to his kids to spend more time with them.”
The high-stakes preliminary final could mark Smith’s last NRL game too, if he falls to the Raiders.
The Sporting Base also expects if Smith doesn’t hang up the towel — a low possibility, according to the Courier Mail — then there’s “little to no chance” he ever lines up against the Storm and Craig Bellamy.
“The hardest thing for me would be being coached by another coach other than Craig Bellamy. That would certainly be something I’d have to think about. It’s something I have been thinking about,” the Immortal-in-waiting said last month.
Smith admitted he had been looking to discuss his future with Bellamy, but the chance never came.
“I said at the start of the year I wanted to get through 12 games before I had a discussion with Craig about whether playing on was an option,” he said. “Unlike what’s been written, there was never a game nor date when I said I’d make a decision. That’s been misreported.”
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Cameron Smith is expected to be named, as per usual, in Melbourne’s number nine jersey next weekend.
The Storm will play the Raiders next Friday night, after Canberra stunned the two-time defending premiers Sydney in a 22–18 arm-wrestle under lights at the SCG in the first elimination final.
