Melbourne captain Cameron Smith has opened up on his speech in the Warriors' changeroom following on from the Storm's 50-6 win over New Zealand in Round 7, stating the gesture wasn't supposed to be received as condescending, perย Fox Sports.
Smith was unaware that he and Craig Bellamy were caught on film, with the Melbourne pair throwing their support behind the Warriors players.
Due to a COVID-19 effected season, the Warriors were relocated to Australia to keep the NRL season alive, taking on a major sacrifice for the rest of the competition as they were separated from their families.
In late June, The Warriors faced a dominant Storm side shortly after sacking coach Stephen Kearney, with Todd Payten leading the team for the first time.
The entire 80 minutes was an ugly sight for Warriors fans as the Storm ran in nine tries against their cross-Tasman rivals.
"I got a bit emotional"
Ryan Hoffman sheds light on what he, Cameron Smith and Craig Bellamy said to the Warriors after the game.
WATCH: @Channel9.#NRLSFS #9WWOS #NRL @RyanHoffman12 @storm pic.twitter.com/UQgEd2ZE7c
— NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) June 28, 2020
Many critics saw Smith's post-match engagement with the deflated side as a sinister gesture, as some believed the speech wouldn't have been taken well by members in the Warriors camp.
Mentioned in his newly released autobiographyย The Storm Within,ย Smith revealed he was surprised by the reaction and admitted the gesture was to thank the Warriors and not seek attention onto himself.
โWe owed them a lot,โ Smith writes.
โThe least we could do was thank them, as other clubs had done.
โOther teams had delivered a tribute on the field, but that wasnโt my style. Iโm not saying there was anything wrong with that, but if youโve read this far (in the book) youโll have realised I donโt do things to get pats on the back.โ
Smith added that he told the Auckland outfit to โkeep your heads up and look after each otherโ.
โThatโs all I said,โ Smith writes.
โThe next day, we were hammered by some in the media for rubbing their noses in it after winning the game. I didnโt expect anything less!
โThe Warriors were shattered after the loss, but they werenโt hostile towards us at all.
โWe didnโt go in there out of pity. We were thanking them for what they were doing.
โIf Iโd seen the camera in the corner of the dressing room, I wouldโve covered it up. For starters, it got a great shot of the bald spot on the back of my head.
โSecond, I didnโt want the media to see a private moment between us and the Warriors.โ