An honest Brandon Smith has admitted “the writing was on wall” when it came to his future at the Roosters, with a move to South Sydney looking increasingly likely.
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As foxsports.com.au reported on Thursday, Smith’s deal with the Rabbitohs is in the closing stages with Wayne Bennett expected to offer him a two-year contract worth around $1.1 million.
The deal is tipped to be finalised in the next fortnight and, speaking on The Bye Round Podcast earlier in the week, Smith conceded the Roosters “pretty much asked me to leave”.
“For me, I just feel like the writing was on the wall. To the Roosters, I don’t think it is a shock I am going anywhere – they pretty much asked me to leave,” Smith said.
The Kiwi international looks poised to join South Sydney despite having what Smith described as a “pretty rough relationship” with Bennett after turning his back on the Dolphins to sign with the Roosters when he left Melbourne.
“I am stoked he is interested in me but to be fair we had a pretty rough relationship. I did give him my word I was signing at Redcliffe and we all knew how that ended up,” Smith said.
“I felt pretty bad, hopefully he has forgiven me for that. I don’t know what the go is yet. I hope something happens. It is just not really on me, to be honest. It is more about them.”
Bennett seems to have moved on based on his response on Friday to questions from reporters about Smith, declaring “nothing’s changed” since his early days at the Dolphins when the 28-year-old was a target for the NRL’s newest franchise.
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“I’d love to see him at South Sydney, so hopefully we can get to the negotiating table and get a deal,” added Bennett.
“He’s just 100 per cent. Like Cam Murray and those players, they just give their absolute best every time they get on the footy field.
“They don’t always get it right, but you know that the one thing they’re doing is just competing for everything and they’re giving their best for the side.”
Smith, meanwhile, said the Rabbitohs were his “favourite team as a kid” and that Issac Luke was his “favourite player”. His playing strip as a junior was red and green too.
“The whole relocating thing. Souths would be perfect because it is so close by to where I am staying at the moment,” Smith added.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson was asked on Thursday about a potential mid-season exit for Smith but told reporters he didn’t want to speculate on the “hypotheticals around all of that”.
“Brandon’s training well, working hard and he’s getting ready for mid-June,” Robinson added.
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