Signings, Suggestions & Rumours Discussion

[tiger_one]

Can someone refresh my memory and tell me why Smith is called "The Cheese"

It's all Andrew Johns fault.
Check out: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/adapts-like-a-wombat-matures-like-good-cheese-smith-loves-storm-life-20190809-p52fpz.html

Adapts like a wombat, matures like good cheese: Smith loves Storm life

Melbourne Storm utility Brandon Smith plays rugby league in a way which inspires multiple nicknames.

His coach once called him a bulldog, a few teammates referred to him as the wombat, while NRL immortal Andrew Johns watched him play and said he looked like a block of cheese with legs.

Now he gets various versions of cheese and cheese wheel. Either way, he loves the notoriety and the silliness it has spawned.

The Storm have made liberal use of a cheese emoji in Twitter and Instagram posts about Smith while commentators have made good use of it too with that initial cheese description mutating into a description of his running style as that of a cheese wheel rolling down a hill.

Some players would get angry about such descriptions but Smith is loving it and he’s loving this season where his form and life off the field are as settled as he can remember.

"Lately everyone is asking me, 'Are you OK with that?'" Smith exclaimed with a laugh.
Runs like a cheese wheel: Storm's Brandon Smith (right) is rolling along.

"Do I look like I'm not OK with it? I've been asked that question. Channel Nine asked me, the Storm asked me because they do social media on it and I don't care. You can call me what you want as long as you are putting up in the social media.

"My family love it, my mum especially.

"I saw this little wombat picture of me the other day and that cracked me up."

All the nicknames come from Smith’s stout build and powerful, burrowing running style. He usually starts on the bench for Storm and is thrown into the game and immediately lifts the tempo.

"The thing I love about him is that he is just a competitor," Bellamy told NRL 360 recently.

"And there is no sort of second or third gear with Brandon. It is either stop or full pace, and that is how I like my footy players.

"He is a tough little unit."

Smith prefers to play hooker but with Cameron Smith still the best hooker in the game, he has had to do what the best wombats do and adapt to his environment.

Now he plays as a utility forward running hard through the middle despite being smaller than most of the locks and props he faces.

Like good cheese, he has also matured and is taking better care of his body off the field.

Smith credits having his girlfriend and drinking less alcohol as the big reasons for his consistent form.

"I'm pretty happy with my back end of the season, we have a rating and I haven't had any under eight," Smith said.

"I'm doing everything right off the field. Craig was on TV the other day and said it took me 18 months to work out off-field business.

"I finally think I've sorted that out. My body is holding up better and it's showing on the field.

"I used to love a beer more than most. I didn't do too many stupid things when going out but those [post-game] niggles hurt a bit more and you don't really do anything as you are in bed hungover.

"Now I'm more active. My girlfriend has moved down and she keeps me in line."

The Storm face South Sydney Rabbitohs in Gosford on Sunday and with the finals fast approaching Smith wants to see his side finish the season strongly and go one better after losing last year's grand final.

"I'd be lying if I said no - all the boys have had it in the back of our minds that we lost the grand final last year," Smith said.

"We lost the minor premiership as well. We let little things like that slip through our fingers.

"We recognise we need to go one better than we did last year, it's a painful experience losing a grand final and I can't imagine how good it would be to win one - hopefully we can."

 

[Nelson]

Im going to put forward an unpopular opinion. I think Brandon Smith would be bad for the Tigers.

He is a great footballer, but as a hooker, I dont seem him as a technician, he is kind of like the Josh Reynolds (except with ability and talent) of hookers in that everthing is about effort and energy, pace. IMO at our stage of play we need a technician at 9. Good service, fast service, run when needed, get players where they need to be.

As a lock/middle forward, again all he has is effort. He is small and will never be elite in this position.

And he would cost us a lot of $$$$

Love the bloke, great player. Not for us IMO.

It's probably the most useful dual position in the game at the moment though - lock/hooker. Having Smith means that you get 80 minutes of quality hooker coverage (between him and say Liddle) without having to take up a bench spot, so you can run 4 forwards. That will be helpful with the game speeding up and fatigue becoming more of a factor.

I also think he's more than just effort in that he may be small for a forward but he's strong as an ox and quick on his feet in the way that Murray and Radley are. Again, with the direction that rule changes are going at the moment players of that type are going to be more effective and more valuable.

I wouldn't want to see us be stupid about it but he's worth I think in $500-600K region, if not slightly higher.

 

[avocadoontoast]

Im going to put forward an unpopular opinion. I think Brandon Smith would be bad for the Tigers.

He is a great footballer, but as a hooker, I dont seem him as a technician, he is kind of like the Josh Reynolds (except with ability and talent) of hookers in that everthing is about effort and energy, pace. IMO at our stage of play we need a technician at 9. Good service, fast service, run when needed, get players where they need to be.

As a lock/middle forward, again all he has is effort. He is small and will never be elite in this position.

And he would cost us a lot of $$$$

Love the bloke, great player. Not for us IMO.

He would be our best player or close to it. We had an energetic hooker in Grant and he absolutely carved up. It will all depend on how are halves are doing anyway, if they aren’t smashing it then having a hooker who can create opportunities and do a lot of work will improve us greatly. If they’re going well then smith is still a fantastic hooker who’s a great defender can run the ball well and is 100% energy, don’t see how that’s a downside at all. He would improve our team no matter what I feel

He’d be our best player.

 

[JC99]

Im going to put forward an unpopular opinion. I think Brandon Smith would be bad for the Tigers.

He is a great footballer, but as a hooker, I dont seem him as a technician, he is kind of like the Josh Reynolds (except with ability and talent) of hookers in that everthing is about effort and energy, pace. IMO at our stage of play we need a technician at 9. Good service, fast service, run when needed, get players where they need to be.

As a lock/middle forward, again all he has is effort. He is small and will never be elite in this position.

And he would cost us a lot of $$$$

Love the bloke, great player. Not for us IMO.

He would be our best player or close to it. We had an energetic hooker in Grant and he absolutely carved up. It will all depend on how are halves are doing anyway, if they aren’t smashing it then having a hooker who can create opportunities and do a lot of work will improve us greatly. If they’re going well then smith is still a fantastic hooker who’s a great defender can run the ball well and is 100% energy, don’t see how that’s a downside at all. He would improve our team no matter what I feel

He’d be our best player.

People forget how good a hooker he is because he’s been playing as a forward and because Harry is so good as well. He’s got great service, strong defender strong runner of the ball and he’s a ball of energy, only thing I haven’t seen is a kicking game but that’s fine.

He’s a great character he’s someone players want to play with and he’s the perfect fit for us. We’ve got money to spend so money isn’t an issue he just ticks all the boxes

 

[carltonleach]

Im going to put forward an unpopular opinion. I think Brandon Smith would be bad for the Tigers.

He is a great footballer, but as a hooker, I dont seem him as a technician, he is kind of like the Josh Reynolds (except with ability and talent) of hookers in that everthing is about effort and energy, pace. IMO at our stage of play we need a technician at 9. Good service, fast service, run when needed, get players where they need to be.

As a lock/middle forward, again all he has is effort. He is small and will never be elite in this position.

And he would cost us a lot of $$$$

Love the bloke, great player. Not for us IMO.

He would be our best player or close to it. We had an energetic hooker in Grant and he absolutely carved up. It will all depend on how are halves are doing anyway, if they aren’t smashing it then having a hooker who can create opportunities and do a lot of work will improve us greatly. If they’re going well then smith is still a fantastic hooker who’s a great defender can run the ball well and is 100% energy, don’t see how that’s a downside at all. He would improve our team no matter what I feel

He’d be our best player.

People forget how good a hooker he is because he’s been playing as a forward and because Harry is so good as well. He’s got great service, strong defender strong runner of the ball and he’s a ball of energy, only thing I haven’t seen is a kicking game but that’s fine.

He’s a great character he’s someone players want to play with and he’s the perfect fit for us. We’ve got money to spend so money isn’t an issue he just ticks all the boxes

I do remember seeing him slot a pretty nice 40/20 I think this year but not much else

 

[avocadoontoast]

Im going to put forward an unpopular opinion. I think Brandon Smith would be bad for the Tigers.

He is a great footballer, but as a hooker, I dont seem him as a technician, he is kind of like the Josh Reynolds (except with ability and talent) of hookers in that everthing is about effort and energy, pace. IMO at our stage of play we need a technician at 9. Good service, fast service, run when needed, get players where they need to be.

As a lock/middle forward, again all he has is effort. He is small and will never be elite in this position.

And he would cost us a lot of $$$$

Love the bloke, great player. Not for us IMO.

He would be our best player or close to it. We had an energetic hooker in Grant and he absolutely carved up. It will all depend on how are halves are doing anyway, if they aren’t smashing it then having a hooker who can create opportunities and do a lot of work will improve us greatly. If they’re going well then smith is still a fantastic hooker who’s a great defender can run the ball well and is 100% energy, don’t see how that’s a downside at all. He would improve our team no matter what I feel

He’d be our best player.

People forget how good a hooker he is because he’s been playing as a forward and because Harry is so good as well. He’s got great service, strong defender strong runner of the ball and he’s a ball of energy, only thing I haven’t seen is a kicking game but that’s fine.

He’s a great character he’s someone players want to play with and he’s the perfect fit for us. We’ve got money to spend so money isn’t an issue he just ticks all the boxes

He’s a fantastic player and an absolute winner.

 

[Deleted member 3518]

Wests Tigers allocate 3 roster spots for hooker..2 specialist and a bloke who can play hooker at a pinch..this season it was Liddle, Simpkin and Reynolds..with Reynolds gone on the current roster that now falls to Mbye...

Hooker is a position they are looking at..

So if talking 2022 Brandon Smith is high on the list..

Smart management from the club IMO. All 3 could be in the 17 at one time as well .

 

[sleeve]

The Mansour buy/trade ? I suspect an old mates club system might behind all this rubbish.I smell something fishy.

 

[carltonleach]

What’s everyone’s opinion on going after Felise kafusi (not sure on the spelling)? I believe he’s off contract at the end of the season I could be wrong though. He seems like a pretty solid second rower? Who sure can win u games as he’s done it quiet a few times in the past!
Just a suggestion

 

[BZN]

Does anyone know how hard we are chasing smith? Or is it just another player who has put himself on the market and we are just saying we are interested and not actually going hard for him?

I think the question was posed to Madge , and he played a straight bat “he’s a relented footballer , every team should look at talented footballers . I coached him at NZ and he’s a great bloke “
What was he going to say “nah he’s a crap dummy half, he can’t pass the ball and in 4 years when concussions ends his career we will will have an albatross around our neck again . Good lock,great bloke , and an absolute menace ,but see previous comment “

The issue is coin. And value .
Is he good value at “500k . Yea probably”.
Is he good value at 300k ? “300k? Where do we sign”.
Is he good value at 800k ? “Smithy your a good bloke mate . Good footballer. Geez we like ya . We are just going to crunch the numbers and get back to you “
**tumbleweeds**
*** more tumbleweeds***
SMITH SIGNS WITH BULLDOGS.
“Damn we missed him”

Yeh I get what ur saying. So that’s all the talks there’s been about it though is what I mean? 800k is pretty crazy, not saying he definitely won’t be worth that in the years to come but atm seems crazy!! Is that what he’s asking or just a number u have thrown in? I’d love to have him at the tigers but as a lock. We would always have a backup hooker on the field if injury was to strike again.

Nah just chucking it around to emphasise my point . There’s like invisible lines where a player goes from good to over rated to a big turd on your salary cap.
Moses Mbye , is case in point of this . Played origin last year , was going to play this year , and yet we all still say can we get rid of him ASAP. Is it cause he sux ? No he doesn’t . It’s just he crossed the imaginary line from good to overated. To some he’s already in the turd on our cap range ,(not me personally) .
Smith is a limited dummy half . He’s a ball of energy , that I think would be best served as a victor radley type role . Help out at dummy half , but not your dummy half. In that role he can truely be elite maybe even Dally M elite . If that’s the role we are taking , I think his value changes .
Just my opinion .Maybe I shouldn’t tell the storm how to act , because you know they read my posts on a Wests tigers forum.....

Good posts @Strongee.
Re "they read my posts" :joy: :joy: :joy:

 

[TigerWest]

Cheese, the cheese, block of cheese, sick of reading about cheese. On Brandon Smith, he would be a good addition at the right dollars, sure, though I want better service from my dummy half and feel that Liddle is much superior at this, matching all others in that aspect and with Simpkin supposedly the next big thing would look elsewhere.

Similarly at lock, expecting that big Joe was brought to fill that role, but maybe upon Maguire shifting Harry there for cameo stints, maybe he is thinking that he no longer wants a prop like lock. As this is a discussion for a couple of seasons ahead, at this stage unless a big money option is a quality second rower, fullback or half, my interest is mild.

Interesting about all this talk of Liddell, how many games has he played in the last few years?

 

[JC99]

Cheese, the cheese, block of cheese, sick of reading about cheese. On Brandon Smith, he would be a good addition at the right dollars, sure, though I want better service from my dummy half and feel that Liddle is much superior at this, matching all others in that aspect and with Simpkin supposedly the next big thing would look elsewhere.

Similarly at lock, expecting that big Joe was brought to fill that role, but maybe upon Maguire shifting Harry there for cameo stints, maybe he is thinking that he no longer wants a prop like lock. As this is a discussion for a couple of seasons ahead, at this stage unless a big money option is a quality second rower, fullback or half, my interest is mild.

Interesting about all this talk of Liddell, how many games has he played in the last few years?

He’s certainly not played better than Brandon Smith has either

 

[avocadoontoast]

Cheese, the cheese, block of cheese, sick of reading about cheese. On Brandon Smith, he would be a good addition at the right dollars, sure, though I want better service from my dummy half and feel that Liddle is much superior at this, matching all others in that aspect and with Simpkin supposedly the next big thing would look elsewhere.

Similarly at lock, expecting that big Joe was brought to fill that role, but maybe upon Maguire shifting Harry there for cameo stints, maybe he is thinking that he no longer wants a prop like lock. As this is a discussion for a couple of seasons ahead, at this stage unless a big money option is a quality second rower, fullback or half, my interest is mild.

Interesting about all this talk of Liddell, how many games has he played in the last few years?

He’s certainly not played better than Brandon Smith has either

Liddle is a decent club player but he’s no Brandon Smith.

 

[Geo]

Does anyone know how hard we are chasing smith? Or is it just another player who has put himself on the market and we are just saying we are interested and not actually going hard for him?

I think the question was posed to Madge , and he played a straight bat “he’s a relented footballer , every team should look at talented footballers . I coached him at NZ and he’s a great bloke “
What was he going to say “nah he’s a crap dummy half, he can’t pass the ball and in 4 years when concussions ends his career we will will have an albatross around our neck again . Good lock,great bloke , and an absolute menace ,but see previous comment “

The issue is coin. And value .
Is he good value at “500k . Yea probably”.
Is he good value at 300k ? “300k? Where do we sign”.
Is he good value at 800k ? “Smithy your a good bloke mate . Good footballer. Geez we like ya . We are just going to crunch the numbers and get back to you “
**tumbleweeds**
*** more tumbleweeds***
SMITH SIGNS WITH BULLDOGS.
“Damn we missed him”

That Smith can play multiple positions in the forwards increases his value..

 

[yeahcaz]

What’s everyone’s opinion on going after Felise kafusi (not sure on the spelling)? I believe he’s off contract at the end of the season I could be wrong though. He seems like a pretty solid second rower? Who sure can win u games as he’s done it quiet a few times in the past!
Just a suggestion

Absolutely past it and like many before him will falter even further outside of the Melbourne team.

 

[weststigerman]

Some crazy claims on both sides around Nofa's ability in this thread. Fact is he is rated at least the 2nd best winger based only on this year's performances. He was also the Tigers best performer according to his team mates. That is also a fact.

No matter how you shape the argument to push an agenda, he is worth a lot to us, and it will be a big coup if we re-sign him long term.

Some crazy claims on both sides around Nofa's ability in this thread. Fact is he is rated at least the 2nd best winger based only on this year's performances. He was also the TigersYo best performer according to his team mates. That is also a fact.

No matter how you shape the argument to push an agenda, he is worth a lot to us, and it will be a big coup if we re-sign him long term.




The NSW SOO squad included 3 wingers. There was also Trbojevic who is injured and Papenhuyzen who could fill in if required. Why is it his value is so overstated at WTs? The squad included 27 players so he was not rated in basically two teams worth of players in NSW. Qld have their own wingers.


There is no getting around the fact better skillets are required in rep football and NSW selectors have spo ken.

Don’t care about SOO, it’s all politics. Moylan used to get picked ahead of Tedesco, and Ennis ahead of Farah.

Here are the best players in each position in 2020: http://coupler.foxsports.com.au/api/v1/article/amp/nrl/nrl-premiership/dally-m/team-of-the-year-live-there-are-13-reasons-this-dally-m-night-is-different-from-any-in-history/news-story/7f2168a8fec8027058cfd9e2a3588942

 

[sleeve]

As said prevously Smith is a good footballer and so is Grant,but both play the game at a franctic pace witch to me spells injuries on the horizon.I can;t for the life of me see the benefit of buying either when hooker position is covered and we are so weak in other areas.

 

[avocadoontoast]

As said prevously Smith is a good footballer and so is Grant,but both play the game at a franctic pace witch to me spells injuries on the horizon.I can;t for the life of me see the benefit of buying either when hooker position is covered and we are so weak in other areas.

I believe in upgrading any position if you get the chance to

 

[frullens]

The cheese would be perfect for us simply because of the determination he brings. Because we have shown our team is missing that mungrel, particularly when the season is on the line.

But, not sure he'd be a good influence in JTJ of the field....

 

[JayT]

I love your confidence hooker is covered! Liddle hasn't much more experience than a rookie and Simpkin is a rookie. Hopefully they are good but its not like we defo have a gun hooker! But I would go for a gun lock more myself. Twal is our lock? Eep! And 2nd rower