Roosters coach Trent Robinson reveals how Brandon Smith was disciplined by club leaders to build trust

With his future at the Roosters under a cloud after Brandon Smith missed a team meeting, his coach has detailed just how they brought him back into line.

Brandon Smith is on shaky ground at the Roosters. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

Brandon Smith’s future at the Sydney Roosters beyond this season remains unclear after coach Trent Robinson revealed senior players confronted the Kiwis hooker with some “hard truths” about his behaviour before he was dropped for Saturday’s clash with Parramatta.

Smith, who has another year left to run on a contract worth a reported $850,000 per season, was given a breach notice by the club for missing a team meeting and he conceded that he “let people down and I don’t like to let people down”.

Addressing the issue on Friday, amid speculation behavioural issues have put Smith off-side with senior players at the club, Robinson said he wasn’t convinced the 28-year-old thought the game was “as important” as it needed to be.

Robinson said the breach notice given to Smith, which included a $1000 fine and a sit-down with club leaders, was part of a wake-up call he hoped would get the best out of a player they poached from Melbourne Storm with significant expectations.

He said the only way to get “significant change” was through discipline.

“You get exposed as a club, you get asked the question, but if you want significant change, it’s a bit like being a parent, how do you discipline and love someone at the same time?” Robinson said.

Brandon Smith faced some ‘hard truths’. Picture by Max Mason-Hubers

“That’s what you have to do, but when you do that in our game, it becomes very public. But when you take away the thing that people really thrive off, it often creates change in a better way.

“You can do it privately and ask for change, but until you say ‘hang on, if you don’t value the game, then you don’t play the game’, then that creates the change you want. We really want to support him and get better but it has to come through discipline.”

Robinson said his senior players led the charge in demanding more from Smith with “confronting” feedback rather than “talking behind his back” about their concerns.

“What does support look like? We support you by telling you the truth,” he said.

“Lots of teams, lots of clubs won’t tell you the truth. They won’t sit you down and tell you what they think. They’ll say it behind your back.

“But the senior players told him what they wanted. It’s a hard truth, a hard conversation, but it’s honest and that’s where trust gets built. They handled it in the right way.”

Robinson didn’t talk about Smith’s long-term future but was adamant his on-field combination with Connor Watson “really has developed this year”.

“This (breach notice) is separate to the on-field, this is not ‘you’re not playing well enough’,” he said.

“He’s come back in, he’s handled this week really well, he’s trained really well, his positivity has been there. He’s shown that from Monday when he walked back in.

“That’s what we wanted, we wanted him to handle it in right way. He has. He’ll get back to playing next week.”

Originally published as Roosters coach Trent Robinson reveals how Brandon Smith was disciplined by club leaders to build trust