By Dan Walsh and Adrian Proszenko
The Roosters have axed Brandon Smith and handed him a $1000 suspended fine for missing a team meeting as Connor Watson returns to push for the NSW Origin debut that a throat injury cost him last month.
Smith has been left out of the Roosters’ 22-man squad against Parramatta on Saturday night, with Watson replacing him at hooker for the crucial clash.
Watson was a genuine chance to secure a bench spot as the Blues utility for Origin I before being floored by an innocuous tackle a week out from Michael Maguire naming his first side.
The Roosters confirmed on Tuesday that Smith had been dropped for disciplinary reasons after his manager said the Kiwi international had recently suffered a concussion at training.
Smith said the formal breach notice he was served for missing a team review after the Roosters’ last-start loss to North Queensland had “put him on notice”.
He is not required to front the club board or answer to officials after being hauled in last Monday, and his manager Stan Martin said his client had every intention of seeing out his contract after taking up an $850,000 option for next season.
Brandon Smith has received a breach notice for missing a team review.Credit: NRL Photos
“He missed a session: it’s not the first time anyone has missed a session,” Martin said.
“He has got a suspended fine. They can’t force him out. They can ask him to look for another club, which they haven’t done. I have not been asked to look for another club for him.
“As far as I’m aware, Brandon will be at the club until the end of 2025.”
Smith told The Bye Round Podcast with James Graham that he feared the worst for his future during the Roosters’ bye week.
Sources with knowledge of the situation, talking under the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely, have indicated some players and staff at the Tricolours have grown frustrated with Smith and questioned his future at the club.
“It put me on notice that it is not good enough, obviously,” Smith said.
“So I was the first one into training [Monday] morning. I feel like I let people down and I don’t like letting people down.
“It has definitely made me want to chill out a bit and focus on what is really important. It’s something I needed, I guess.
“A lot of rumours go up and about because I got a breach and I was starting to think I was going to get sacked, myself.
Connor Watson is back from a throat injury.Credit: Getty
“It was a pretty epic couple of days. Thankfully, I went in today [Monday] and it was all good. The boys were funny, making fun of me.
“Trent [Robinson] was disappointed because it’s quite a rookie mistake. But not much really came of it.”
As for Watson’s Origin chances, the Blues bench has been a point of contention given NSW did not carry a back and took 25 minutes to switch Stephen Crichton to the right edge after Joseph Suaalii was sent off.
Canterbury’s Matt Burton was 18th man and is the other leading contender if NSW pick an out-and-out utility.
Watson has been among the Roosters’ best this season after fearing he may not return to the NRL while recovering from a ruptured patella tendon that left him confined to a wheelchair for two months last year.
Teammate Luke Keary was on standby for Nicho Hynes throughout the Blues’ game one camp and couldn’t stress enough the value Watson offers at both club and higher levels given he can cover all spine positions and a small forward role.
“I love [Watson] as a player,” Keary said. “Obviously injuries have just kept stalling him. I reckon he would have played rep footy if he’d had a consistent run of three or four years of footy.
“We missed him so much last year. He’s so valuable when he plays lock, hooker, he’s played five-eighth for us a few times this year, he can play fullback.
“He just needs to keep doing what he’s doing and he’ll fit into one of those [representative] teams at some point. He’s good enough to do it.
“He just needs to stay on the field for an extended period of time, I don’t think we’ve seen him for a full season in a long time. Right now, he just needs to get this weekend under his belt and see where he goes. He wouldn’t be out of place.”
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