NRL 2021: Brandon Smith ‘had a little cry’ during Melbourne Storm’s win over Manly Sea Eagles

He’s known as one of the NRL’s premier pranksters but Melbourne Storm star Brandon Smith has an emotional side as well.

The thought of missing the remainder of the Storm’s finals campaign through injury brought cult hero Brandon Smith to tears last weekend.

Smith was instrumental in the opening exchanges of Melbourne’s qualifying final win over Manly but left the field after knocking heads with Sea Eagles forward Josh Aloiai.

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Told by medical staff in the changerooms that he had fractured his cheekbone, Smith “had a little cry” as his dream of playing in consecutive grand final wins appeared in tatters.

“They kind of just told me it was broken. It wasn’t very good signs,” the Storm hooker told reporters on Sunday.

Smith manage to compose himself for the sake of his teammates.

“I couldn’t go out there after it and mope around and look sorry for myself because the team wouldn’t have wanted that,” he said.

“I had to try and stay as positive as I could for the team and try and have some impact on the boys even though I wasn’t on the field.

“It took a little while to get over it but at the end of the day, there’s bigger things in mind.”

Smith has scored more tries this season than any other Storm forward. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)

Last Saturday, Smith took to social media to declare he had been cleared of serious injury. After that, it was business as usual again for one of the NRL’s most vibrant characters.

“I’ve always got plenty of energy and am trying to get the boys up,” Smith said.

“I think I just try to mentally prep the boys and get them ready by putting them in a good mindset.

“The other day, we had a super tough training session but every time they explained the drills, whether it was a really hard session, I’d just say, ‘I bloody love it’ and all the boys would get around it.

“I think it’s just keeping a positive mindset at training and making sure the boys aren’t moping around.

“That’s my role in the team.”

Smith said he was pleased to have been entrusted with leadership responsibilities this season.

“I’m really enjoying being a bit of a leader and I’ve got a bit of a bigger voice now,” he said.

“People actually listen to me, whereas a couple of years ago, they’d probably just tell me to shut up.”

The Storm are 1-1 from games with the Panthers this season. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Smith will be free to take the field for next weekend’s preliminary final against the Panthers, who defeated the Eels in a brutal semi final on Saturday night.

Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary missed his side’s last two meetings with Melbourne through injury, but will be back with bells on for the grand final qualifier.

Smith said his side was not concerned by the prospect of coming up against the reigning Dally M Halfback Of The Year for the first time since last year’s grand final.

“I don’t really think it matters whether it’s Cleary or (Eels halfback) Mitch Moses or anyone, we’re just going to go out there and pressure him,” he said.

“That’s what we’re trained to do, that’s what wins footy games.

“We’re going to pressure (Panthers five-eighth) Jarome Luai and Cleary. It doesn’t matter if they’re playing for the (wooden-spooners) Bulldogs, you don’t just change your standards for the better teams, you’ve got to play the way you play every week.

“We know what he’s about, anyway.”

With a smile, Smith added: “We’ve got to treat all players equally, except probably (Dally M Medal favourite) Tom Trbojevic.”