Melbourne Storm chairman Matthew Tripp has spoken about the reality of Brandon Smith's future.
While Tripp would love to see Smith with the Storm for the remainder of his career, he understands that the club would not be able to compete with rival clubs financially.
The NRL cult hero has met with the Dolphins, Cowboys, the Gold Coast Titans and will be heading to Sydney to have a chat with the Roosters.
He joked that he was only at the #Redcliffe Leagues Club to play the pokies, but the @DolphinsRLFC could soon hit the jackpot by signing Storm hooker Brandon Smith. @AdamJackson_9 #9News pic.twitter.com/TzuMB2IPoh
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) November 11, 2021
Tripp is hoping that Smith will stay as an integral member of the Storm squad and become a one-club player, however the enticing offers from clubs such as the Titans and Dolphins may be too big of a hurdle.
“We’re hopeful and we’d love to keep him and for Brandon to be a one-club player, but we understand he’s a sought-after player because he’s a great player,” Tripp told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“There’s a lot of competitive tension in the process. We hope to speak to him at some point in the next week or two and put our best foot forward – and we hope it’s going to be good enough.”
Despite all of the attention Smith's receiving his agent has revealed that he'll honour the remainder of his contract with the Storm and wouldn't entertain the idea of an early release.
A decision by the New Zealand international is set to be made in the coming weeks.
