In welcome injury news for South Sydney fans, 2021 Dally M Hooker of the Year and 13-time Kiwi international, Brandon Smith, is set to make his long-awaited debut for the club this weekend.
The former Storm and Roosters forward has been named on the extended bench for Sunday’s Round 18 NRL clash with Manly—although it’s expected Smith will more likely run out for the Rabbitoh’s NSW Cup side on Friday night.
Either way, it will be Smith’s first competitive game of rugby league since undergoing ACL and MCL reconstruction surgery following a hip-drop tackle by former Canberra Raiders captain Elliott Whitehead in Round 26 last season.
Smith, 29, was released by the Sydney Roosters earlier this year ending a largely disappointing two-year stint in the Eastern Suburbs to sign a new deal at Redfern until the end of the 2027 season.
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Yet to play a game in the famous cardinal and myrtle, Smith already has history with Rabbitoh’s head coach, Wayne Bennett, after the premiership-winning hooker reneged on a verbal agreement to join the Dolphins for a reported $900,000 per season back in 2023.
Fortunately, it seems all has been forgiven.
“He’s just 100 per cent, like Cam Murray and those players,” Bennett said of Smith’s work ethic at the start of the season, when the injured hooker was still with the Roosters.
“They just give their absolute best every time they get on the footy field.”
Given the club’s ongoing injury crisis, Bunnies fans will be hoping Smith can indeed get on the NRL footy field—and then stay there—beginning with his return match this weekend.