Cameron Smith shocked Melbourne star hasn’t worn Blues jersey

CAMERON Smith shouldn’t be helping New South Wales, but he can’t believe one of his Storm teammates hasn’t got the Origin call.

Cameron Smith of the Storm walks from the field followed by Robbie Farah of the Rabbitohs.

QUEENSLAND captain Cameron Smith has a tip for New South Wales ahead of Origin I — pick Dale Finucane.

Finucane made 41 tackles and ran for 133 metres in Melbourne’s 14-6 win over South Sydney in Perth. He was one of the best on show in the recent City-Country representative fixture and has only gotten better since switching from Canterbury to the Storm in recent years.

Smith told Fox Sports’ Sunday Ticket that it was time Finucane received recognition for his terrific form.

“He’s the unsung hero of our side,” Smith said. “Not a lot of accolades going towards Dale from outside our team, but there’s no doubt that we all notice him on the park and when he’s not playing we noticed he’s not on the park.”

Dale Finucane training with Country Origin.

New South Wales have a luxury of back-row talent in their stocks, but Finucane’s ability to play through the middle and be part of the front row rotation could make him a valuable player in Laurie Daley’s Blues side.

“He just goes about his business. He’s an aggressive bloke which we love,” Smith said.

“I’m sure he’s got to be knocking on that door of the Blues side, he’d be a pretty handy player at Origin level.”

Finucane’s strong performance helped Melbourne reclaim top spot on the NRL ladder in Western Australia, after withstanding a spirited South Sydney effort.

Smith wants to see Dale Finucane in Sky Blue.

After they went to the break leading 10-6, the Storm’s defence was watertight as they held out 22 play-the-balls in their 20-metre zone in the next half-hour. Souths had 55 per cent of the ball in the second period, and forced the Storm to make an extra 48 tackles, but Rabbitohs halves Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker could do little with it.

Instead it was the Storm who finally crossed, as Suliasi Vunivalu slammed the ball down with six minutes to go against the run of play to seal the win. It was a return to the Melbourne’s typical stonewall defence, after they conceded 38 points in their shock loss to the Gold Coast last week. The Storm’s likely Queensland Origin quartet of Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Will Chambers were all on song in their final hitout before the series opener on May 31.

They combined perfectly for the Storm’s first try, as Slater provided a basketball-style pass for Chambers to score in the fifth minute. Slater busted through four tackles while Smith banked a 40-20 kick to go with his hefty tackle count of 52.

Cronk also set up the Storm’s second try, when he grubbered for winger Josh Addo-Carr to score within metres of the dead-ball line in the right-hand corner.

NSW Origin aspirant Robbie Farah had a hand in Souths’ only try, darting out of dummy-half to find John Sutton to barrel over in the 15th minute. But they couldn’t cross the line when it mattered most.

Rabbitohs captain Sam Burgess was also left frustrated at halftime when Melbourne failed to have a defender in the halfback position at a scrum on the Storm’s line with seconds to play.

He also accused Storm players of putting him in a “choker hold” in a tackle which was not penalised.

— AAP

Originally published as Cameron Smith shocked Melbourne star hasn’t worn Blues jersey