Brandon Smith (rugby league)

Brandon Smith (born 31 May 1996) also known by the nicknames of "Block of Cheese" or "Hectic Cheese", is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker, lock and prop for the Melbourne Storm in the NRL. He has also represented New Zealand and the New Zealand Māori at international level.

Brandon Smith
Personal information
Born (1996-05-31) 31 May 1996
Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Height180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight94 kg (14 st 11 lb)
Playing information
PositionHooker, Lock, Prop
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2017– Melbourne Storm 56 8 0 0 32
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018– New Zealand 5 2 0 0 8
2019– New Zealand Māori 2 2 0 0 8
As of 1 October 2019
Source: [1][2]

Early life

Smith was born in Waiheke Island, New Zealand, and is of Cook Islands and Māori descent.

He played his junior rugby league for the Waiheke Rams and Bay Roskill Young Guns in New Zealand.

He moved to Townsville as a teenager because his brother Dylan Smith had an under 20s contract with the North Queensland Cowboys. In Townsville, he was educated at Kirwan State High School, Townsville where he played school-level football.[3] He continued playing junior league with Centrals Tigers and Brothers in Townsville.[4]

Playing career

Smith played for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Youth Competition for two seasons.[5] In May 2016, he played for the 2016 Junior Kiwis against the Junior Kangaroos.[6] In September 2016, he was named at hooker in the Team of the Year.[7] He signed a 3-year contract with the Melbourne Storm in the following month.[8]

2017

On 30 April, Smith was named in the New Zealand national team's 20-man squad for the 2017 Anzac Test.[9]

He made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against the Knights in round 13, scoring a try.[10][11][12] On 24 July, he signed a major contract extension with Melbourne, tying him to the club until the end of 2022, with the intention of his becoming Cameron Smith’s replacement as hooker.[13]

2018

At the beginning of the season he was part of the Melbourne Storm victorious 2018 World Club Challenge Team. In round 23, against the Eels, Smith demonstrated his gritty character by playing a vital role for his depleted team, displaying determination to win with an injured knee. Brandon was also part of the Melbourne Storm team that played in the 2018 NRL Grand Final.

On 13 October, Smith made his international debut for the New Zealand national rugby league team against the Australian Kangaroos in Auckland

2019

Smith played 23 games for Melbourne in the 2019 NRL season as the club finished as runaway minor premiers. Smith played in the club's preliminary final loss to the Sydney Roosters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[14]

2020

Smith was selected as a part of the Māori All Stars winning team on the Gold Coast at the NRL All-Stars Match. He was awarded the Preston Campbell Medal for his two tries man of the match performance. After the game it was revealed that Smith had suffered a facial fracture and was ruled out for 4-6 weeks.[15]

On 2 July, in Round 8 of the Telstra Premiership, Smith played his 50th NRL game on Thursday Night Football against the Roosters. Smith started at hooker for the game.

References
  1. "Brandon Smith – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 31 May 1996. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  3. Walter, Brad (23 June 2017). "Brandon Smith hopes to follow in childhood idol's footsteps". Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  4. NRL Digital Media. "Meet: Brandon Smith – Storm". Melbournestorm.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  5. "S". Nyc Database. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  6. "Updated: Representative Round team lists". NRL.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  7. "2016 Holden Cup Team of the Year announced". NRL.com. 28 February 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  8. Melbourne Storm (11 October 2016). "Storm re-sign Griffin, add youngsters". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  9. "Kiwis team announced to take on Kangaroos". NRL.com. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  10. "Updated team lists: Storm v Knights". NRL.com. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  11. NRL Digital Media. "Late Mail – Round 13 – Storm". Melbournestorm.com.au. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  12. "Slater stars as Storm thrash Knights". NRL.com. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  13. Dan Walsh. "NRL 2017: Melbourne Storm lock in Big Three successors with four key re-signings". Fox Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  14. "Roosters 14-6 Storm: NRL preliminary final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  15. "All Stars hero Smith to miss 4-6 weeks with facial fracture". www.nrl.com.
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