Wedding snub behind Cameron Smith's feud with Storm teammate Cooper Cronk

Cameron Smith's highly publicised fallout with teammate Cooper Cronk is still the subject of intense speculation.

Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Billy Slater after winning the 2017 NRL Grand Final. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Cameron Smith the golfer isn't the only Cameron Smith making headlines on Monday morning as the release of the NRL great's autobiography sees him in the news daily.

The book has prompted revision of several controversial moments from the Melbourne Storm and Queensland champion's career, including his fallout with Cooper Cronk.

You can read all about it in today's edition of Morning Serve.

Updates

8:16 am November 16, 2020

Cliffhangers in early NFL slate

The Giants ruined the Eagles' plans to grab hold of the NFC East and Tampa Bay easily disposed of Carolina, but the other early NFL games went down to the wire.

Cleveland held on to defeat Houston in a dour struggle and Green Bay survived a scare by Jacksonville but the real heart-stopper was in Detroit where the Lions needed a 59-yard field goal to break a tie with Washington.

Scores: Giants 27 Eagles 17, Buccaneers 46 Panthers 23, Browns 10 Texans 7, Packers 24 Jaguars 20, Lions 30 Redskins 27

7:19 am November 16, 2020

Dustin Johnson wins the Masters

Top-ranked Dustin Johnson shook off an early stumble to win the Masters in record-breaking fashion, capturing his second major title with the lowest total score in the tournament’s history.
The 36-year-old American, who grew up only an hour’s drive north of Augusta National, became the first reigning world number one to grab the green jacket since Tiger Woods in 2002.
Johnson, whose other major victory came at the 2016 US Open, fired a closing four-under-par 68 to finish on a 72-hole Masters record 20-under-par for a five-stroke triumph over South Korean Im Sung-jae and Australian Cameron Smith.
Johnson smashed the old 72-hole Masters mark of 18-under 270 set by Woods in 1997 and matched by Jordan Spieth in 2015.

Smith finished with the highest score by a runner-up and was the first player in history to shoot all four rounds in the 60s.

6:35 am November 16, 2020

Don't give in to the tickle

6:23 am November 16, 2020

ATP Finals begins in London

Dominic Thiem avenged his defeat by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the championship match at last year’s ATP Finals in the opening encounter of the eight-man elite tournament in London.
US Open champion Thiem stumbled after winning the first-set tie-break but found his range again to win 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3 and seize the early initiative in Group London 2020.
In the evening match in the group, second-seed Rafael Nadal, appearing at the end-of-season event for a 10th time, takes on Russian debutant Andrey Rublev.

Top seed Novak Djokovic, who is competing in Group Tokyo 1970 alongside Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Diego Schwartzman, plays his opening match tomorrow.

5:35 am November 16, 2020

Lakers bringing in Thunder guard

The NBA's trade freeze ends tomorrow and the world champion LA Lakers are poised to make an early move.

Reports out of the US indicate Oklahoma City Thunder guard Dennis Schroder is set to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis in exchange for the Lakers' first round draft pick (28).

Dennis Schroder enjoyed a fine season as a sixth man of the year contender in OKC. Picture: Getty

5:25 am November 16, 2020

Victoria set for tennis bonanza

In some good news for a state that has suffered more than most in 2020, every big tennis tournament of the summer is being moved to Melbourne this year.

In order to make the Australian Open preparation for the world's best as smooth as possible, tournaments normally held in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart will relocate to Victoria.

The Herald Sun has all the details.

5:16 am November 16, 2020

Hamilton wins seventh world championship

Lewis Hamilton is now a seven-time World Champion after a freakish performance to win the Turkish Grand Prix.
In slippery conditions at the resurfaced Istanbul Park, Hamilton had struggled all weekend but once again found his way to the front and claimed a massive victory ahead of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third.

Hamilton was heard crying over team radio post-race. You can read a full wrap of the action here.

5:09 am November 16, 2020

Wedding snub behind Smith-Cronk fallout

Cameron Smith has opened up on a range of hot topics in his newly-released autobiography, but he is staying coy about the fracturing of his relationship with former Storm teammate Cooper Cronk.

The most often cited reason for the fall-out was Cronk's departure from the Storm to the Roosters late in his career after he decided to move to Sydney to be with his wife, Tara Rushton.

But NRL reporter Danny Weidler has new information.

Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith tangle in the 2018 NRL Grand Final. Picture: Getty

"Cronk and his manager, George Mimis, won’t talk about the subject, but the suggestion from some of Cronk and Smith’s former teammates is the falling out relates to Smith and his wife’s failure to attend Cronk’s wedding," Weidler reports.

"No one will say more than it was the abrupt manner of the no-show that angered Cronk."

The first excerpts from Smith's book published online include the impact of rumours he had an affair with Fox Sports presenter Yvonne Sampson.