has cameron smith retired from nrl

To his own self he is being true. All this absence comes as a glaring counterpoint to a career marked by relentless action. In these times when every utterance has to be micromanaged to the syllable and timed for maximum commercial effect, isn’t there something just a little bit beautiful in a player of this stature simply erasing himself? Or is he just messing with us, having an infinite jest at the league world’s expense? That’s surely not what he wants. Cameron Smith and the Melbourne Storm with the premiership trophy. The world hates a vacuum, and rushes to fill it. 13. They played four matches without Cameron Smith in 2020, winning two and losing two (though a plethora of stars were rested in round 20's defeat to … He’s been sighted watching the Titans training! If the desire to play is overpowering, he will seek a contract this year or next. Sports news, results and expert commentary delivered straight to your inbox each weekday. Others, with even less claim to be close, have insinuated he is relishing the drama and is behaving, at the very least, selfishly by not telling the world he is not playing. "I dunno, I might be (playing this year), I'm still feeling as good as I've ever felt....but also there's a big decision to make," Smith said at the event. All we need now is a sighting at Portsea and Cameron Smith will beat Harold Holt back to Melbourne. Sadly, he’s creating just the kind of sideshow he might have hoped to avoid. Those, as they say, who are ‘close to Smith’ (although if the current limbo establishes anything, it’s that nobody is close, or close enough) speculate he is genuinely paralysed by indecision. They simply move on to something else. Is that the question for Cameron Smith? Here are my predictions for which teams will finished 13th, 12th and 11th on the NRL ladder this season. An injury happens, the rehab doesn’t fix it, the player eventually bows to reality. Cameron Smith also broke a number of league, club and personal records throughout the 2017 season including the NRL games record for the most games played, league record for the most wins as a captain, a personal best for the most points in a game and also scored his 2000th career point and 1000th career goal, the first time any player has achieved this. It’s hard to imagine a more fitting finale than he had, winning a grand final in his last game. NRL 2021: Cameron Smith to return to Melbourne for bronze statue with Billy Slater. For 99.9 per cent of people who play sport, retirement is not an action but its absence. Smith might actually be shocking everyone and catching them by surprise through being absolutely, 100 per cent, honest. Cameron Smith has reportedly not made his mind up over his NRL future and could draw on inspiration from NFL star Tom Brady to continue his career at the Titans. Is there a method to this madness? Now less than three weeks out from the start of the 2021 NRL season, the legendary hooker is still without a club and yet to confirm if he has in fact retired. By making retirement an omission rather than a grand production, can Smith be said to be making a new kind of statement, one that is golden in its silence? "… So at this stage I haven’t even spoken to him, nor (has) anyone from the club, so it’s all speculation at this stage.". Previous. There’s no need for an announcement because nobody is waiting for one. What you’d hate to think is that such a great player is withholding his retirement announcement as an up-yours to his perceived enemies. If you believe the man himself, Cameron Smith still hasn't made a decision on his future. Sign up here. Now less than three weeks out from the start of the 2021 NRL … The issue reached boiling point this week when recently retired Australian basketball great Andrew ... Cameron Munster has been rocked by tragedy on the eve of the 2021 NRL … It’s easy for us on the outside to say he ought to shrug it off. Or have his achievements earned him the right to be morally debt-free? Two weeks from the rugby league season, Hamlet Prince of Broadbeach continues to waver. With only 29 players signed to their 30 … Smith has played in the most club games (430), the most Origin games (42), scored the most points (2810), recorded the most wins for a club (310), made the most tackles (16,917), and so many more mosts, perhaps the immensity of doing all that has overwhelmed him. It could be as simple as that. But we still don’t know, because he hasn’t said. The best sportspeople are usually obsessive, and obsessives keep doing something until it’s not fun any more. For the first time in his club coaching career Craig Bellamy won’t have his most trusted lieutenant, Cameron Smith, by his side. The stimulus they crave is success, and the hardest thing of all is to walk away on that high. He has not turned up to training, for he has not signed a contract. Retirement as an act of manipulation is just control-freakery of another sort. If you believe the man himself, Cameron Smith still hasn't made a decision on his future. One of the real shocks the NRL MVP Index threw out concerned one of the NRL’s most heralded performers. Here are my predictions for which teams will finished 13th, 12th and 11th on the NRL ladder this season. His silence, his deliberate evasion of attention, is interpreted as attention-seeking. The next, he has seen Tom Brady win a Super Bowl at 43 and is pondering a Steeden like Yorick’s skull. Titans powerbroker Mal Meninga appeared to back up Smith's claims on Thursday, denying any contact with the former rep star. NRL 2021: Wayne Bennett confident Adam Reynolds’ contract stand-off with South Sydney will reach ‘good conclusion’, Bennett weighs in on Reynolds, Rabbitohs stand-off, NSW Cup 2021: Draw, fixtures, results, squads, Ron Massey Cup, Jersey Flegg, NSW Cup 2021: Draw, fixtures, results, squads, New captain Ben Hunt urges Dragons forwards to 'stand up' and fill leadership void left by Cameron McInnes, Dragons skipper urges forwards to 'stand up' in 2021, NRL 2021: Confirmed team lists for every side in round 1, Victor Radley suspended and fined over Byron Bay incident, https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sportal_com_au/b2/12/cameron-smith_13qbqzlg1sk4a18bh67qlfix3g.jpg?t=1168081126&w=500&quality=80, Andrew Johns believes Dragons captaincy the 'shot in the arm' Ben Hunt needs, Dale Finucane and Jesse Bromwich will captain the team, denying any contact with the former rep star. Rafael Nadal outclassed Fabio Fognini to close in on the all-time Grand Slam titles record on Monday as Ashleigh Barty ramped up hopes of becoming … Former State of Origin hooker Michael Ennis believes Cameron Smith will "lob" at either the Titans or Broncos this season amid Mal Meninga's claims he has not been in contact with the star. Pretty much exactly were we were. After all that, the one thing the future Immortal can’t seem to do is the decidedly mortal act of calling time. Nor has he not-not retired. Smith and his family have moved to the Gold Coast, unsurprisingly seeing him linked to both the Titans and Brisbane, though the star dummy half reckons he hasn't spoken to any clubs. Brisbane Broncos (last year 16th) If 2020 was represented through an NRL team, it … It’s possible he has not even decided. He is probably just following his conscience; but conscience doth make cowards of us all. Dann made his first grade debut as a teenager and retired at the early age of 25 at the end of 1983 ... More NRL News. He owes it to the game, or if not to the game then to the three clubs (Storm, Broncos, Titans) who have left their phones on every night since October in hopes of a call. Does Smith owe anyone anything? The 2021 season is shaping as career-defining for a number of high-profile NRL stars, and for some it is now or never, writes Paul Kent.