Cameron Smith - The Storm Within: The autobiography of a legend

First published in 2020

Copyright Cameron Smith 2020

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Allen & Unwin

83 Alexander Street

Crows Nest NSW 2065

Australia

Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

Email:

Web: www.allenandunwin.com

ISBN 978 1 76052 511 8

eISBN 978 1 76106 028 1

Statistics by David Middleton, League Information Services

Index by Puddingburn Publishing Services Pty Ltd

Set by Midland Typesetters, Australia

Cover design: Luke Causby/Blue Cork

Front cover photograph: Nic Walker

To Barb, Jada, Jasper and Matilda

Thank you.

CONTENTS

As coach of the Melbourne Storm, I like to think I dont miss much. Ive watched Cameron Smith play a lot over the years and thought I pretty much knew all there was to know about him. But, in the lead-up to Camerons 400th match in 2019, one of our assistant coaches, Marc Brentnall, pointed out something I hadnt noticed before. Whenever one of Camerons teammates scores a try, Cameron is the first player there to congratulate him.

It sums him up, as a player and person: he enjoys the success of others. Thats a real good trait to have when youve done what hes done, when youre the top dog. Ive seen other players who are well regarded become envious of another players success. Cameron wants everyone around him to thrive and to achieve what hes had.

Id heard a little bit about him as a player before I arrived at the Storm for the 2003 season, but within the first few weeks of preseason I identified that he was training within himself. It wasnt that he was lazy, because he doesnt have that in him, but he was a laidback character with a shell be right attitude. I wanted him to be the best player that he could possibly be. So I pulled him aside.

You have to get uncomfortable, I said. All the best players do.

From the next session onwards, he went full throttle and didnt take his foot off the gas until the last minute of his career.

Ive been fortunate to watch his evolution as a player from close range, and it was clear early on that he had a great grounding and education from his father, Wayne, who had been a hooker of note in the Brisbane competition before coaching juniors. When he arrived at the Storm, Cameron also benefited from learning from senior players like Robbie Kearns, Scott Hill and Robbie Ross. In the many years that have followed, hes become the best the game has ever seen.

Before Cameron came along, I considered Steve Walters to be the best dummy half Id laid eyes on. Id seen Boxhead up close because I played with him at the Canberra Raiders. Benny Elias from Balmain was also a wonderfully skilful hooker. In recent years, weve seen the likes of Josh Hodgson at Canberra and Damien Cook at Souths. But none come close to Cameron. The quality of his play on both sides of the ball, but especially with the ball, has never wavered. Hes also done it for a long period of time. Nobody has done what hes done as well, or as skilfully, or as tough, for eighteen years. Playing for that long in any position is hard. But hes done it in the middle of the ruck, with big blokes lining him up. The tackles hes made, the quality of his defence, has been remarkable.

Cameron adapted as the game changed but always remained old school in his mentality. He comes from a time when work, footy and family were separate. But now, because the game is professional and fulltime, they are intertwined, and that makes things complicated. He doesnt play the games that other people want, especially the media. Hes certainly stubborn. People dont realise that. It means hes never veered away from the standards he truly believes in.

Some of the criticism and scrutiny over the last few years of his career was really disappointing. Ive always taken the view, whether its me or the players, that you pay a certain price at this level because its professional sport. Sometimes you are criticised, sometimes you are praised. But families should never be brought into it. They dont sign up for that. Sometimes the media has overstepped the mark with his family. And thats not right.

To do what hes done in the game, Camerons had to have some really good support off the field. There have been no bigger supporters than his wife, Barb, who has been with him since they were teenagers, and his three children, Jada, Jasper and Matilda.

I have never made this point publicly before but there were a couple of times after matches early in his career when Cameron couldve got himself into a little bit of strife celebrating wins. He never went off the rails, but without Barbs influence things couldve gone the other way. She was as important then as she is now. I dont think Ive seen a partnership in footy where the other half has made as many sacrifices as Barb has. Shes been his anchor and deserves as many accolades as he does.

As coach and captain, weve also been through a lot together. There have been hard times, and none more so than the salary cap scandal in 2010 and the years that followed as we put the club back together. People didnt see how tough Cameron did it during those timesbecause he hid it from view. He copped a lot of criticism in the papers, which was unfair. It wasnt the players responsibility to make sure our squad was under the capit was the clubs. As far as I was concerned, our club made the mistakes, not the players. They were unfairly picked out and picked on.

If there was a silver lining, the club came out of it stronger and more resilient. And so did Cameron. He was better for it, as tough as it had been.

Cameron has enjoyed annoying me over the years, niggling away at times without me even knowing, but our relationship has gone far beyond that of player and coach. He was brought up in the working-class suburb of Logan in Brisbanes south, and I was brought up in the working-class town of Portland in the NSW Central West. We have similar standards and beliefs, and over the years weve become close mates. Thats something that will never change, whether or not he is my captain and Im his coach.

Craig Bellamy

Head Coach, Melbourne Storm, 2003

When Im on a football field, I feel like I can see into the future. My brain tells me the story of how the game will unfold before it happens.

Rugby league is a series of decisions, made in a split second, under pressure and while fatigued, against the clock or the scoreboard. An average tackle takes 3.8 seconds to complete, and when youre the hooker, when you live at the play-the-ball, you make more decisions than any other player on the field.