Cameron Smith nearly quit after wife attacks ‘overstepped the mark’

Cameron Smith is no longer an NRL player, but his career may have been cut short years ago after an ugly furore involving his wife.

Cameron Smith officially retired on Wednesday but even though he could have easily played on in 2021, the footy great almost ended his career a couple of years ago when the personal toll of being in the limelight went too far.

The Melbourne legend walks away as the greatest player rugby league has ever seen, but fans haven’t always warmed to the former Queensland and Kangaroos captain. Whether it be the Storm’s salary cap scandal, wrestling tactics or being dubbed the referee whisperer, criticism has always followed Smith, no matter how great his on-field achievements.

Speculation has raged since last year’s grand final about whether Smith would keep playing with the Broncos or Titans since moving to the Gold Coast, but the man at the centre of it all only decided the time was right to hang up the boots a week ago.

He told his teammates just minutes before publicly announcing his retirement at the unveiling of his statue at AAMI Park — an announcement made without glitz or glamour, and without his wife Barb and three kids by his side.

It was hardly the way you’d expect the GOAT of any sport to walk off into the sunset.

“When we sat here and talked about how he’s the greatest player of all — that’s not how you’d expect the greatest player of all to retire, today,” journalist Lara Pitt said on NRL 360.

“It felt empty, his family wasn’t there.

“It didn’t feel like the appropriate way to step away from the game.”

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But after months of wrestling with the decision, Smith gets to leave on his terms — something that wouldn’t have happened in 2019 when he was tempted to quit because his wife, who has been with him since the beginning of his football journey, was dragged into an ugly furore surrounding a diamond ring.

When Smith became the first star to play 400 games two season ago, the NRL honoured him at a gala event, presented him with a crystal trophy and also gifted Barb a diamond ring.

The gesture from then-NRL CEO Todd Greenberg sparked controversy, with many calling for the league to justify the expense while junior clubs around the country were crying out for more funding.

Reports at the time suggested the ring was worth more than the $5000 claimed by the NRL, and things became personal as Barb became the subject of attacks from critics of her husband.

She offered to return the ring, but ultimately decided to keep it. Writing in his autobiography The Storm Within, released late last year, Smith said he contemplated retiring to protect his family.

Smith’s ride has been far from easy.

“It was claimed the money could have been better spent on grassroots football,’’ Smith wrote.

“I could not believe what our game had become. This had overstepped the mark. And Barb was devastated.

“Things were getting out of control and it forced me, at the end of the 2019 season, to ask myself some serious questions. Should I walk away from the game? Or keep playing and put my family through this unwanted scrutiny?

“I felt terrible for Barb. She hadn’t signed up for this. We’d been dating before I even started playing NRL, when there was every chance I wouldn’t make it to the top grade.

“She has never used the game or the media to gain any benefit for herself. For her it was never about the red carpets or the publicity. She was just there to support me.”

Barb has played a key role in Smith’s career right until the very end, but as everyone else was kept in the dark about whether the hooker would retire or not, even she was struggling to see what decision her husband would make.

“The key quote I got off him in an interview in December, he said, ‘My wife Barb says to me, Cameron, why is it you can make 100 decisions during a league game but you cannot make one off the field?’” journalist Robert Craddock said this week on The Back Page.

“So he’s stuck and he’s not being Mr Smarty Pants, leading anyone on.”

Barb has always been by Smith’s side.

Smith said on Wednesday he wasn’t intentionally playing games, as some suggested. He just genuinely didn’t know if he wanted to retire or not.

It was only while having the freedom to do what he wants with his time in recent months, and spend more time with his family, released by the burdens of training schedules and travel, that he concluded the time was right.

“I’ve actually really enjoyed having my own time to do my own thing,” Smith told reporters.

“It’s been quite refreshing to me as a person being able to pick and choose what I want to do, rather than being dictated to by a training session or a scheduled draw.

“At the end of the day, once I spent quality time with my family in Queensland I knew it was the right time to finish.”