Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy says Cameron Smith is set to play in Sunday’s sudden-death NRL final against Canterbury if he’s 85-90 per cent fit – but the skipper won’t be allowed to defy common sense.
Smith was a notable absentee at Melbourne’s open training session on Thursday, instead undergoing intensive rehabilitation on his high ankle sprain in a bid to be ready for the elimination final at AAMI Park.
The Test hooker isn’t expected to run at all before game day, with a decision to be made after their final hit-out on Saturday morning.
When he suffered a similar injury in the opening State of Origin, Smith defied medical advice and played three days later but Bellamy said there was too much on the line to risk a player not being able to contribute enough.
“We’d probably play him if he was 85 to 90 per cent fit but we can’t put him out there if he can’t do his job reasonably well,” Bellamy said.
“If he’s going to be a passenger we’ll be better off going with someone else.”
The coach said that the Kangaroos captain would have a say but not the final word.
“At the end of the day it will come down to me.
“I know how tough and resilient Cameron is and the pride he’s got in wanting to go out there but he needs to make a common sense decision here as well.”
The Storm haven’t beaten the Bulldogs in two meetings this season; losing their round four match 40-12, when Smith didn’t play, and then a high-quality 6-4 arm-wrestle in round 18.
Since then the Bulldogs’ form has fallen away and Bellamy questioned whether it was due to Origin taking its toll on key players such as NSW halves Trent Hodkinson and Josh Reynolds.
He said promised that the Storm have a “couple of things up our sleeves” to penetrate the Bulldogs’ steely defence.
“They’ve had the wood on us this year but we’ve hopefully got a couple of different ways we’re going to handle our attack to change the course of events in this game.”
Last year Melbourne bowed out of the finals race in straight sets, with Bellamy then saying they didn’t have a September buzz.
With their season on the line from the get-go Bellamy hoped the team now had the right mind-set.
“They all know it’s semi-final time and they know there’s no tomorrow if we don’t turn up and play well on Sunday so hopefully that’s enough to get them excited.”
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