How a spray from Craig Bellamy put Cameron Smith on the path to play 400 NRL games
Cameron Smith wasn’t always the consummate professional - many years ago a withering spray from Craig Bellamy put the Melbourne champion on the path to becoming a champion.
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It was the spray that saved Cameron Smith’s career.
A classic, no-nonsense reality check from Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy which laid the foundations for the culture of high-performance that has made Smith an NRL history-maker.
Smith will become the first man in rugby league’s 111-year history to reach 400 first-grade games when he runs out against the Sharks at AAMI Park.
But the Storm champion wasn’t always destined for greatness.
If not for Bellamy, the talismanic Melbourne coach of 16 years, Smith could have been destined for the scrapheap.
Smith was just 19, his NRL career only two games old, when Bellamy flashed the stare of an angry parent and called the rookie hooker aside to deliver the searing words he has never forgotten.
“In all the years we have known each other, I’ve had only had one run-in with Craig ... just one,” says Smith.
“He gave me one spray and it was the only time before or since that he’s had to talk to me about my attitude.
“I remember it was his very first season at the Storm in 2003 and I had played two games the year before.
“We were doing a session running up hills. It was about halfway through the pre-season and Craig was watching all of us, getting a feel for who we were.
“To be honest, I was pretty laid-back back then and my attitude was if there is a task to be done, I will just do it with the smallest amount of effort I could.
“For example, if we had a three-minute running course, I would be happy to complete it in 2.58 or 2.59.
“So one day, Craig just gave it to me.
“He said, ‘Listen mate, it’s not good enough, you are just happy being in a comfort zone’. I said, ‘Yeah, I am’.
“He said, ‘OK, that may help you play 50 games, you might even get to 100 games, but if you want to be the very best, if you want to be a champion of the game playing 200 games, if you want to play for Queensland and Australia, that won’t cut it. You need to push yourself to the limit because in the tough times in games, you will know you have done the work’.
“After that conversation, I walked away and had a good think about things and where I wanted to go in my career.
“I thought Craig was exactly right.”
The champion within had been stirred. Bellamy never lectured Smith again.
“From that day, my whole attitude changed,” Smith says.
“I thought, ‘I need to go through some pain here to get the best out of myself’.
“There were days when I really paid the price at training, but I came out the other side knowing I was as fit as I could be and I was giving myself every chance to be the best footballer I could be.
“I’m forever grateful Craig gave me a reality check that day.
“If he didn’t, I wouldn’t have reached this milestone of 400 games.”
In July, 1969, man landed on the moon.
In July, 2019 – exactly 50 years later – Smith is the NRL’s version of Neil Armstrong, a man who has, metaphorically speaking, gone out of this world, pushing the limits, reaching new frontiers, leaving the NRL fraternity in incessant awe of his longevity and durability.
Just turned 36, Smith has set benchmarks that will most likely never be beaten.
He is State of Origin’s most-capped player with 42 appearances.
For Australia, he is second only to Darren Lockyer (59 Tests) with 56 internationals.
The Logan Brothers junior has played 20 matches or more in 16 consecutive NRL campaigns, a remarkable display of toughness in one of the most brutal collision sports in the world.
In a glittering NRL career, he has touched the ball a staggering 41,074 times, played 30,729 minutes, amassed 20,855 metres, made 14,757 tackles and set-up 145 tries.
And with Smith contracted for another 12 months, the greatest pointscorer in NRL history isn’t finished yet.
“I never thought I would get to 400, it’s just unheard of,” he said.
“It will be a pretty significant moment for myself and my family. We’ve never had a 400-game player, so I’m happy for the game of rugby league that we can celebrate something really special and positive as a code.
“People ask me about my longevity and there’s an element of luck, there is no doubt about that. I’ve never had any really serious injuries, but I also know I put in a lot of hard work that people don’t see to prepare for myself for games.
“I think the years of playing the game as a kid, too, helps you to know how to position your body in certain moments to avoid being twisted a certain way.
“Being mentally prepared for the physicality of the NRL is another huge factor.
“I’m not the biggest or strongest guy you will meet, but you need to be able to absorb the hits on the weekend, then get back up two days later for a training session, over and over.
“There is no secret. The only secret is hard work.”
Smith’s image is synonymous with the purple jumper of Melbourne, but he admits he only once considered quitting the Storm.
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In 2015, in Wayne Bennett’s first season back at Brisbane, a year in which they made the grand final, Smith planned to play for the Broncos.
“I never got any interest from other codes, they didn’t see my athletic ability,” he says with a laugh.
“The only time I came close to not playing at the Storm was just after our last child was born. I thought about coming home to Queensland and joining the Broncos.
“There was talk of me coming back to Brisbane and to be honest it almost happened.
“I was dead serious about going to the Broncos. I basically told Craig (Bellamy) I was going, but then my wife (Barbara) stepped in.
“She said I know how much you love the Melbourne Storm and from the start you wanted to be a one-club person.
“I’m really grateful to my wife for having that conversation with me and she sacrificed the chance to be around her family to allow me to stay at the Storm and be a one-club player.”
Now, as he prepares to face the Sharks, his 2016 grand final nemesis, Smith’s desire has not waned. He craves another premiership.
“I’ve been lucky enough to play in premierships and lift that trophy up and there aren’t too many better experiences,” he said.
“To do it again would be fantastic, but it takes a lot of hard work and some luck as well.
“I’m still turning up to training with a small piece of my mind focused on lifting that premiership once again.”
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