Beloved Melbourne Storm player Brandon Smith is expected to stay at the club and see out the remainder of his contract.
The 24-year-old was expected to explore other avenues, with The Sydney Morning Herald reporting that Smith was tired of being the understudy-hooker at the Storm, and was interested in paying $200,000 to free himself from the club.
However, speaking to NRL.com, Smith's agent Stan Martin has revealed that the Kiwi native will be staying at the Storm for the remainder of his contract, with the proposed buy-out of his contract not going ahead.
"Brandon will be at the Storm until the end of 2022," he said.
"In all honesty I don't think it is going to happen. I am not talking to anyone, no [rival] club at all."
Smith joined the club in 2016 after spending a couple of years in Townsville with the Cowboys' National Youth Competition team.
After signing a three-year deal with the Storm, he made his debut in 2017 and was signed on a bumper contract, with the club envisioning him being Cameron Smith's successor.
Say Cheese! Brandon Smith burrows under Panthers’ D to score the first try in #TNF
🏈 #NRLPanthersStorm
📺 WATCH on @kayosports https://t.co/uMD0fPac8c
📝BLOG: https://t.co/81bLvAEJTM
📲 MATCH CENTRE: https://t.co/KSmCTHLLOL pic.twitter.com/heNm6Qx1n0— Fox League (@FOXNRL) March 25, 2021
However, teammate Harry Grant has seemingly taken the Storm legend's rake role, with Smith forced to do battle with the rising star for the role.
But despite this competition, Smith is by all accounts happy to stay at the club and share his role with the 23-year-old Queenslander, according to NRL.com.
"I like playing hooker and showcasing my skills but it still feels a little bit foreign to me," he said.
"I guess I'm going to have to remodel my game, even my routine; usually I like to be super pumped up before I go on the field. It's a little bit different now."
Despite this, the 24-year-old still thinks that his team has work to do to patch over the void that Cam Smith has left.
"We're still adjusting to life without Cam in our team. The game management's not there, we're playing a bit like little kids at the moment and we need to put the icing on the cake and take our opportunities but the best thing about it is we are creating the opportunities."
