Smith Finally Retires

[zac]

anyone seen the statues? how come they look nothing like slater and smith?

[The Lip]

great game manager, no doubt one of the best, but I’m struggling to remember big highlights that the likes of slater,johns,Lewis, Freddy and some of the other greats have that come to mind straight away. I suppose he made his teammates look really good by always doing his job.

he won plenty of matches near the death with his goal kicking, field goals, and pulled of some great general kicks that turned games, but I think his biggest attribute was that I can’t remember him playing a bad or quiet game.
that’s what makes him truly great.

He was definitely not an entertainer- he definitely was the most valuable player of the last 15 years. Maybe all time - I really struggle to compare players across generations.

[The Lip]

Agree with your sentiment.

Great player but he never really inspired me or provided games/footage that I wanna watch over and over.

In short, he's technically gifted (e.g. his successful sideline conversion against heavy wind while falling over) and is probably the best tactician ever. Great niggler too! Really knew how to make sure the refs weren't interfering with his tactics/strategies.

That said:
- He only ever played for one club (which got ahead by systematically cheating the cap). IMO it was all too convenient that no players were implicated.

- His tactics weren't about playing expansive football or being an entertainer (you'd only like them if you were winning). Rather... they were about milking 2 pointers in front of the sticks during golden point moments, making players think their back was about to be broken in tackles, stripping the ball during multi-player tackles and slowing the ball down. Smart? Yes. Pretty? No.

- The McKinnon incident was an absolute disgrace. He wasn't about player welfare or sportsmanship (as shown by him faking penalties from in front and actively encouraging grapple/cannonball tackles). He may be a gentleman off the field (so is everybody with millions of dollars & every award in the book... difficult to be bitter when you've had such a good run of luck). However, none of what he's done will go down in the record books as 'stuff you want your kids to aspire to do'.

- His retirement was fukking odd. Say what you like about him being able to choose... he's now completely farked over the Drizz (no continuity planning), the Titans (no marquee signing - to me he owed the game a charity season with them after all his success with the cap cheaters) and Brisbane (who even released Macca to make space). To make this call less than a week before round 1 was an arrogant move. He's allowed to do it... sure! I'm also allowed to successfully apply for a job and then a day before I'm supposed to begin say 'aaaw sorry, not interested'. It's not evil, it's just inconsiderate and sums him up. He's done nothing aside from win win win with the Storm, QLD and Australia (all stacked teams where he's not the only $1 million man). I don't think he's given anything back to the game of footy, like so many others in his shoes have done. The game hasn't improved as a result of him! He's like a Putin or Jinping... undoubtedly a strong, talented leader who has made a lasting change on the world... but to what end? Everybody in the world hates them and the rules of engagement are now more defensive/boring than ever because you have to consider the rules they're gonna play by. Everything was more fun and there was way more good faith before they showed up...

There's a lot more depth to the guy... I get it. However, he's not a loveable, charitable dude like say Freddie, Benji (still playing for the love of it!!!) and SBW. You wanna play like those guys at their prime, not like Cam Smith when he's just edged out a game by milking a penalty from in front.

Ha I don’t think technical has anything to do with kicking a goal whilst falling over - quiet the opposite - unless he frequently practiced falling over before kicking the ball. If he fell over after kicking the ball it’s irrelevant. FK I hated seeing him do that - he was basically right in front of me and I wanted to smash his smug face when he turned around. He was good I can admit that - he was great.

[King Salvo]

Be interesting to see how the Storm go without him as he was glue that held it all together controlling the tempo of the game.

The other Smith is more of a eveready battery type of player - Grant would be the best choice to start and have B Smith from the bench to cover Dummy Half and Back row.

[mattyh]

grestest game manager ive ever seen . no question.

i still find him boring . but damn he was good.

[Mickie Lane]

Smith is a leader and a winner, but he's not a player that will get bum on seats. He's not a player like Thurston, Lockyear, Fittler Cronk or SBW....and yes Johns. The only great memory I have of him as a freak was when he took that conversion from the sidelines against us, on a rainy night at the SFS and he kicks it while horizontal to win the game. Great player nevertheless.

He will be an Immortal though some of them won’t.

[Mickie Lane]

Be interesting to see how the Storm go without him as he was glue that held it all together controlling the tempo of the game.

The other Smith is more of a eveready battery type of player - Grant would be the best choice to start and have B Smith from the bench to cover Dummy Half and Back row.

Surely they dip a little this season maybe 5th?
They have never lost a Rd 1 game under Bellamy with C Smith playing but I think tomorrow night that’s all gonna change. I think Smith is irreplaceable & as good as Grant & the block of cheese are they have nothing on Cameron. He could read the play 3 tackles head.

[NorfolkStreetKid]

As well as playing more games, scoring more points and having more wins than any other player, he probably made more tackles, passed more balls, had more kicks as well. Obviously a different cat, as determined a man as ever played the game.

[The Corner Post]

The rugby league era made him - not the other way around.
He was a small man playing in a time when forwards were big and tired. He played along side three (i believe) immortals in his team / Qld team. The NRL were desperate for a successful Melbourne team, leading to favorable calls. The NRL also changed the rules to allow for their tactics - the wrestle. All Smith had to do was stay healthy and play, which he did so I give him credit for his long career and health, thats all.

[Johnny Tobin]

Narcissistic cockhead

[Rooster1908]

anyone seen the statues? how come they look nothing like slater and smith?

Agree Zac looked nothing like them .But how good was the one of winx and his jockey , that was amazing

[ism22]

The rugby league era made him - not the other way around.
He was a small man playing in a time when forwards were big and tired. He played along side three (i believe) immortals in his team / Qld team. The NRL were desperate for a successful Melbourne team, leading to favorable calls. The NRL also changed the rules to allow for their tactics - the wrestle. All Smith had to do was stay healthy and play, which he did so I give him credit for his long career and health, thats all.

Yeah I think he's a talented player (60+ tackles a game and a super accurate boot) but as you say... the rules always seemed to adapt in his favour.

I dare say that if (for example) Radley had gotten cheeky and started the trend of those 5 man strips they woulda started calling it what it is... a 'hand on the ball'.

When Maloney discovered a hack where he could take people's boots off to gain an advantage, they acted swiftly to ban it under an interpretation of an existing rule (uum... eeer... that could be dangerous!!!) However, dangerous tackles required sophisticated rule changes to describe the finer details of such tackles. I reckon the refs coulda just had a meeting and said 'it's dangerous contact... rub it out' and McKinnon-style situations coulda been avoided. However, they never seemed to like doing that to Smithy.

[zac]

Agree Zac looked nothing like them .But how good was the one of winx and his jockey , that was amazing

just checked it out - it's a good un

[NorfolkStreetKid]

If he had played for the roosters we would have won at least 3 more comps. The clowns bagging him here would think he was a God.

[The Skeez]

Imagine you’re Bellamy, reigning premiers and this year’s premiership favourite is coming to town for the first game of the year. You haven’t lost a first round game ever. Souths have never won in Melbourne. Bennett’s got a poor record against Craig.