Mid-season South Sydney signing Brandon Smith spoke candidly this week on The Bye Round with James Graham, as he prepares to play his first NRL game in nearly eleven months.
“I feel ready to play,” Smith told Graham, revealing he’s both excited and nervous about making his Rabbitohs debut, most likely against Manly on Sunday afternoon.
“I’ve done a few contact sessions now, training at dummy half and bit of lock as well,” he said, before making light of his lack of match fitness.
“I’m actually nervous,” Smith laughed.
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“The gasket is going to blow so quickly, I think my legs will go first, then the lungs!”
Smith, 29, comes into Wayne Bennett’s squad at a crucial stage of the NRL season with the Bunnies languishing in second-last place following a disastrous run of injuries.
“We have that many injuries at the moment, even in our lower grades, I think there’s only 22 players left in our squad—maybe I’m just a name filler?” Smith joked after being named on an extended South Sydney bench last Tuesday.
Following the Manly clash at Four Pines Park, the Rabbitohs have a bye in Round 19 and Smith said he would be open to playing NSW Cup next weekend to continue building his match fitness.
“I’m not opposed to it,” he admitted.
“We’ll see how my first game back goes, but getting some more match fitness would be great.”
The most recent of Smith’s 148 NRL appearances came last season for the Sydney Roosters in Round 26, where he suffered a season-ending knee injury requiring ACL and MCL reconstruction surgery.