Cameron Smith has reportedly been tabled a two-year deal with the Melbourne storm, and while this is a great signing, it's not so good for Brandon Smith.
Brandon Smith is still contracted with the Storm until 2021.
He was originally brought to the club from the Cowboys the be Cam Smith's replacement, as we have already seen he is a worthy replacement to fill the No. 9 jumper for the Storm.
Brandon Smith has only played 22 games and has already represented his home nation of New Zealand four times. In my opinion, it would be cruel to keep such a skilled international player on the bench.
With Cam Smith set to play for another two years it may be wise of him to ask for a formal release from his contract.
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are without a hooker for 2019.
The club opted to not resign Pita Godinet, and they are reportedly not going to stand in the way of Jacob Liddle signing with the Bulldogs and gave Matt McIlwrick an early release from his contract in order to join the Rabbitohs.
This leaves them with almost no options beyond 2018 for the No. 9 jumper.
Brandon Smith would be a very valuable pickup for the club as he comes with a cheap price tag and has a coach in Michael McGuire that knows his strengths and weaknesses while coaching his at the Kiwis.
Parramatta Eels
One of the Eels' many problems in 2018 was their ruck speed, and at times their ruck let them down and allowed the other team to shift the momentum in their favor.
The Eels decided to not re-sign Cameron King at the end of the 2018 season opting to go in a different direction with their recruitment.
Kaysa Pritchard has been given plenty of chances and has not set the world on fire, the other option for the Eels is Read Hamony.
Hamony did show signs of creativeness around the ruck, something that the eels are lacking. Brandon Smith could add a lot of creativity to the Eels.
The club has only 200K left in their salary cap for this year but they do have 20 of their top 30 squad unsigned beyond 2019.
It is very likely that a large number of these players will not be resigned, which would leave them with a treasure chest.
Penrith Panthers
When Peter Wallace retired from the NRL halfway through the season it was a massive blow for the Panthers.
The Club was left without a genuine No. 9 for the inevitable future. The Panthers' two best options for the jumper are Wayde Egan and Sione Katoa.
Both played well at hooker but I am tipping that Wayde Egan is the player to take the jumper.
With the departure of Trent Merrin, the Panthers do have some breathing room in their salary cap for a player such as Brandon Smith.
If the Panthers were to sign Smith it would make their spine into a real premiership threat for 2019 and beyond.
If the club could offload one or two players they could offer Brandon Smith a contract he could not turn down.
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
The Bulldogs could really use a player of Brandon Smith's Ability.
The Bulldogs' major factor is that they are lacking momentum and their forward pack is not laying a platform for their halves.
The signing of Brandon Smith could be the start of a rebuild for the Bulldogs.
Smith could be the amazing young talent that joins the Bulldogs to start the Belmore rebuild.
This could be similar to the Knights signing Kalyn Ponga.
Before Ponga had signed the Knights had thrown money at big players such as Jack Bird, Boyd Cordner, Matt Scott, Tevita Pangai Jnr, and Matt Lodge.
This changed when Kalyn Ponga saw the vision of Nathan Brown, once Ponga signed, Connor Watson, Mitchell Pearce, and Aiden Guerra all saw the vision and signed with Newcastle.
This could be the same with the Bulldogs.
If Smith was to sign it could cause a ripple effect.
The only thing standing in the way would be the Bulldogs Salary Cap.
The Bulldogs have stated that they would not be able to sign any big name players until at least 2021.
I believe that Brandon Smith will stay loyal to Melbourne.
In my opinion, he is too good to play off the bench, but he is still contracted to the club until 2021.
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