Melbourne players were unable to sledge Brandon Smith back after their former teammate’s brutally honest assessment of the Storm’s thrashing to Brisbane.
After his long-touted NRL move to the Sydney Roosters for this season, Smith will face off against Melbourne for the third time in 2023 on Friday night.
The 27-year-old was at his cheeky best after the Roosters pipped Cronulla last Saturday night to book a semi-final date with the Storm at AAMI Park in Melbourne.
Smith labelled the Storm’s nightmare 26-0 qualifying final loss to the Broncos, their first defeat to Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium since 2009, as “putrid”.
“Hopefully they bring that performance again,” Smith told News Corp.
“That would be great. I don’t think they are going to do that.”
Storm star Cameron Munster did his best to bite his tongue when asked about Smith’s jab.
Melbourne twice got the better of Smith’s Roosters when the old rivals faced off against each other during the regular season.
“If we get the win on Friday night, then I’ll give it to him, but if he gets the win over me then I’m sure he’ll give it to me,” Munster said on Monday.
“He (Smith) pretty much says whatever comes to the top of his head, like myself, so we’ll see who has the last laugh on Friday.”
Halfback Jahrome Hughes said Munster had labelled the Storm’s performance “dogs***” in an entertaining byplay between the pair during the interview.
“We were pretty putrid … he’s (Smith) probably right,” Hughes said.
“We were what he said, we weren’t happy with how we played.
“‘Cheese’ (Smith) is always going to say something cheeky so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s texting me soon trying to get under my skin.”
Melbourne hooker Harry Grant could not disagree with Smith’s comments.
“Smith is always pretty honest,” Grant said.
“That’s (putrid) basically what it was.
“It was a very poor performance and he’s (Smith) a character of the game so you don’t want to deter him from speaking the truth.”
© AAP
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