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With the Brisbane Broncos currently struggling on the field, now is the best time to try lure Cameron Smith to their club in an attempt to restore its status as one of the powerhouses of the competition.
Smith is said to be the most sought-after signature at the Broncos, who are in desperate need of experience and a desire to return to the upper half of the competition sooner rather than later.
His NRL resume makes for impressive reading – he is the Queensland State of Origin team’s incumbent captain, having first assumed the role in 2008 when Darren Lockyer was out injured and on a full-time basis in 2011, and captained the Melbourne Storm through the drama of the salary cap scandal and, of course, to last year’s premiership.
Here are the four reasons the Brisbane Broncos must chase Cameron Smith:
1. It’s time for a change
In the past few years, many big names have switched clubs to either prolong their career or to continue to make themselves famous, albeit at a new club.
One of the great examples in the last few years is Greg Inglis.
When the Melbourne Storm’s salary cap breaches were exposed in 2010, it was inevitable the Storm could not keep all of their ‘Fab Four’ (Billy Slater, Inglis, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith).
The Broncos were first thrown up as a possible home for Inglis, given his Queensland connections and the fact his partner was living in Brisbane at the time.
A deal seemed to be all but ratified, until Russell Crowe urged Inglis to change his mind and consider joining the South Sydney Rabbitohs, who were still struggling to attract a marquee player of their own.
The Rabbitohs’ offer was too good to refuse and Inglis turned his back on the Broncos, officially signing with the Bunnies before Christmas.
With the Rabbitohs currently enjoying their best season since 1989 and seemingly headed for their first premiership since 1971, Inglis’ decision to join the Redfern-based club has been vindicated by his current good form (although he is currently out injured).
At first, Inglis struggled to adjust to his new surroundings but a switch to fullback in the early part of the 2012 season instantly kick-started the current period of success the Rabbitohs are enjoying right now.
He has also proven to be a good influence on the club’s other Aboriginal-based players, as well as in Redfern, which is famous for its Aboriginal origins as well.
By joining the Broncos, Cameron Smith can lead the club back to its past glory, and hopefully to their first premiership since 2006.
However, by doing that, he would leave behind such a successful unit that he, in tandem with Craig Bellamy, helped to rebuild in the years following the salary cap scandal.
Will a decision to join a struggling club and help it return to the top pay off? If it did so for Greg Inglis, then it should for Cameron Smith.
2. The Broncos desperately need experience
The Broncos’ struggles on the field have been put down to the loss of experience, which has seen Shane Webcke, Petero Civoniceva, Darren Lockyer and a few others retire gradually or leave the club since their last premiership in 2006.
As of 2013, Justin Hodges, Corey Parker and Scott Prince are the club’s three oldest players, with only Parker having spent his entire playing career at the Broncos.
Prince was brought to the Broncos this year (after previously playing for them between 2001 and 2003) in an attempt to restore some experience to the club. But he has not stepped up to the mark in his 16 games for the club so far this season.
Prince will be 34 next season, and both Hodges and Parker will both be 32 by the time next year’s first State of Origin match rolls around.
Cameron Smith will be 31 by this time next season and it is at this age many players lose their aura.
Even Darren Lockyer struggled at that age, but he came back well from a season-ending knee injury in 2007 to keep the Broncos in the upper half of the competition between then and his retirement (the only exception being when the Broncos missed the finals in 2010).
Smith has at least another three years of good football left in him and he also displays good leadership skills, having learnt from Lockyer when they were playing together in the Queensland and Australian sides.
His good leadership skills have already been mentioned earlier in the article, none more so than when he led the Melbourne Storm through their darkest period and ultimately to last year’s premiership.
It is his leadership which will hopefully return the Broncos to the top of the competition and, hopefully, a seventh premiership.
3. It’s time to come home
The lure of returning home to finish a top-grade career which has now lasted more than a decade could also play into Cameron Smith’s mind.
Smith made a smooth, transitional move from Brisbane to Melbourne to start his first-grade career, and it’s a move which has paid dividends.
Smith and his partner, with whom he has three children, are well and truly settled in Melbourne.
Had he stayed home and represented the Broncos back in 2002, the year in which he made his first-grade debut, he would have struggled to get a game, as players like Casey McGuire and Shane Walker prospered.
A specialist hooker back then, Smith played his first two matches for the Storm at halfback, before being switched to his more favourable position in the dummy-half role.
15 months after making his Storm debut, he was selected for Queensland in the 2003 dead rubber match at Suncorp Stadium, after the Maroons unsuccessfully tried out PJ Marsh and Michael Crocker at hooker.
In the decade of his Origin representation since, he has only missed one match, the first match of the 2010 series, through injury.
Smith, though, doesn’t need experience when it comes to playing matches in Brisbane. He has led his state, in tandem with Darren Lockyer, to numerous State of Origin match victories and has also led the Storm to an excellent record in the city, losing there only once since 2005.
But the idea of playing in Brisbane on a regular basis will not only pull in more crowds, but also make him feel more at home.
4. Restore the club’s reputation as the glamour club of the NRL
In their heyday, the Brisbane Broncos were billed as the ‘glamour club’ of the NRL, because of their ability to recruit players and mould a successful team out of it.
The Broncos’ glamour status rivaled Manchester United in football and Maria Sharapova in women’s tennis.
Sharapova, in particular, is one of the most glamorous figures in her sport, with her fame, numerous sponsorships and money making complementing her on-court successes, whereby she has won all four Major titles as well as an Olympic silver medal.
She has even launched her own candy brand, called “Sugarpova”.
However, in recent times, the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm have taken that status away from the Broncos, by successfully luring second-rate players to their clubs and turning them into regular first-graders.
Or, in the case of Sonny Bill Williams and Michael Jennings for the Sydney Roosters, turning them into much better players than they were at their original clubs.
The Roosters and Storm are based in Australia’s two largest cities (Sydney and Melbourne, respectively), with the Broncos being based in the third-largest (Brisbane).
Each of those three cities have their own lifestyles and attractions.
Sydney has Bondi Beach (not far from where the Roosters are based), the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and Darling Harbour, while Melbourne has Docklands, Crown Casino, Melbourne Park and the Eureka Tower among its landmarks.
Brisbane has the Story Bridge as its main landmark, while it also has some man-made beaches along the Brisbane River, and of course the Gold Coast is just over an hour’s drive south.
In recent years, however, the Broncos have struggled to attract big names to their city, partly due to the club’s failure to get a hold on Greg Inglis in 2010.
Why don’t players want to come and live in Brisbane anymore? There’s nothing bad or notorious about the city, except for the Queensland floods, which severely damaged the city but not its image, two-and-a-half years ago.
Thus, there is no reason why any NRL player would not want to move to Brisbane.
There is no shame in representing the Brisbane Broncos, even if you were born in Sydney. Even Sam Thaiday, the club’s current captain, was born in Sydney.
Should Cameron Smith make the move back home, it would mark a return to the lifestyle he enjoyed as a kid before moving to Melbourne, and its lifestyle, in 2002.
Even though he will be playing in a struggling squad, he will make for a good role model for the club as they try to restore their status as world-beaters.
So, should Cameron Smith return home to Brisbane to lead the Broncos back into the top half of the competition, or stay in Melbourne and chase another premiership? You be the judge.
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