NRL 2021: New Parramatta captain Will Smith opens up on the loss of his grandfather ‘Uncle Bill’ Smith

Just five days after the death of his grandfather and biggest fan, Will Smith will lead the Eels out for the first time as captain against the Panthers on Friday night.

Parramatta Eels head coach Brad Arthur addressing the media at Kellyville Park ahead of the team's round one clash with the Brisbane Broncos. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Sometime Friday night, Will Smith will go looking for a message that isn’t coming.

Which for this newest Parramatta captain, is a first.

With Smith explaining how for as far back as he can remember, and certainly through all eight NRL seasons, no game day has ever been over until after all the speeches, songs and whatever else were done, he then sat down, found his phone and listened to that message left by his grandfather, Bill.

The race to the 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series is on and every game matters. Watch Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >

“Happened every week,” the Eels No.6 recalled on Thursday. “After every game I played, my grandfather would always phone and leave a message, congratulating me.”

Then, this proudest of grandsons would call him back. Every time. But not after this week’s Friday Night Football showdown with Penrith.

Will Smith will captain the Eels for the first time this weekend. Picture: Jerad Williams

No, instead, this debuting Eels skipper – a fella who now sees his name inked alongside the likes of Ray Price, Ken Thornett and Nathan Cayless — will wear black electrical tape around one arm. Same deal, every other Parramatta player.

With Smith’s NRL captaincy debut coming just five days after losing his grandfather, greatest supporter, and the man after whom he was named.

William Smith, or Uncle Bill as he’s been widely known to so many, was a highly respected indigenous elder from Newcastle who passed away last Sunday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 83.

Among the Hunter Region’s most respected voices – and a man who had the ear of prime ministers – Uncle Bill spent some 50 years championing indigenous causes, particularly health and education, while also helping found organisations like the Awabakal Newcastle Aboriginal Co-operative.

Elsewhere, the man who grew up playing rugby league barefoot, who left school aged 12, worked a cattle property and then shifted to Maitland where he laid railway tracks, would eventually go and turn that last of labours into a thriving family business — with Smith General Contracting employing hundreds of workers, both black and white, to lay railway line throughout the Hunter and Port Kembla.

Yet to the Parramatta skipper?

Pop was a storyteller.

A teacher.

Indigenous leader ‘Uncle Bill’ Smith with his grandson, Eels playmaker, Will Smith at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle earlier this season.

A man whose lessons in life, and culture, have been passed down through six children, 18 grandchildren and 50 great grand children. One of whom, he rang after every NRL game.

“Which is what I’m going to miss most,” Smith said. “Finishing Friday night’s game and not being able to phone him back.”

Yet the call that really matters?

That will now always be the one Smith made to his grandfather last week — and only minutes after coach Brad Arthur had revealed how, with skipper Clint Gutherson being rested for the final round, he would be the team’s new leader.

“So straight away, I Facetimed pop in hospital,” Smith said.

And his reaction?

“Yeah, he cried,” the 29-year-old revealed. “Then after that, laughed. He was just so happy.

“And looking back now, I’ll hold onto that memory forever.”

Importantly, Smith has also been able to grieve in Surfers Paradise this week with his immediate family, thanks to wife Kayla and their two children Lexi (7) and Rome (4) having headed north into Queensland with the initial intake of NRL families.

Will Smith with his children, Lexi, 7, and Rome, 4 . Picture: Jerad Williams

“Obviously it’s a tough time and I can’t just jump on a plane and go home,” the five-eighth said of dealing with his loss. “But to have my family here with me, that’s special.”

Same deal, he says, the decision by every Eels players to wear black armbands in his grandfather’s honour.

“And I’ve got so many great memories of pop,” he said. “Of us going out on land together, of getting painted up and doing our traditional dancing.

“Then other times, we’d just sit and listen to him tell stories.”

Of course, Smith will also lead the Eels into Friday night’s game carrying the stories of so many others who, in so many ways, have also seen their lives forever changed by Uncle Bill.

“My grandfather was someone who, despite leaving school at 12, was still able to help so many people,” Smith said. “And for me, that’s really special.”

ARTHUR FIRES UP AT RESTING CRITICS

— Dean Ritchie

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has bristled at accusations he has surrendered a possible top four spot by giving up on beating the red-hot Penrith Panthers.

“We certainly won’t be putting the slippers on this week,” Arthur said.

Arthur has rested seven players for the Panthers game on Friday night – effectively ending any chance of victory and a possible top four finish.

In startling head-to-head odds, the TAB has Parramatta as an $11 outsider and Penrith at $1.03.

Parramatta, Manly and the Sydney Roosters are all on 32 competition points heading into the final round – only one will progress to earn a second chance in the finals by finishing top four.

Eels head coach Brad Arthur has made no apologies for resting players this weekend. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Arthur has elected to rest Clinton Gutherson, Junior Paulo, Marata Niukore, Mitchell Moses and Waqa Blake, while fellow stars Dylan Brown, Nathan Brown and Isaiah Papali’i named as reserves outside the top 17.

No side in the NRL era has won a premiership from outside the top four. The last side to achieve that rare feat was Canterbury, in 1995.

While many agree Parramatta’s undermanned side may cop a hiding, Arthur refuses to concede his side cannot roll Penrith.

When asked if he had given up on beating Penrith, Arthur said: “What? Why have we given up on beating Penrith? We certainly won’t be putting the slippers on this week.

“We are trying to get blokes ready for what is ahead of us. I’m doing what’s best for the club and what’s best for giving us every opportunity in the finals.

“There are other priorities that lie ahead, but that doesn’t mean we’re not trying to win this week. It doesn’t mean that at all.

“Look, Penrith is a very good team and they will be hard to beat at the best of times, but we have momentum on the back of the last couple of weeks.

“And the boys getting an opportunity, they’ve still got to go and play the style of footy we want to be known for. If that’s not good enough, well it’s not good enough. We haven’t spoken to them about the result, but about the opportunity they’ve got.”

Brad Arthur has rested seven players, including Mitchell Moses, for Parramatta’s clash against Penrith. Picture: AAP Image/Brendon Thorne

Parramatta’s replacements this week include Hayze Perham, Jake Arthur, Ky Rodwell, Michael Oldfield, Samuel Loizou, Sean Russell, Tom Opacic and Will Smith.

NRL coaches have KPI’s inserted into their contract — most earning additional money with a top four finish, so Arthur may well be costing himself big bucks by electing to run with an understrength side.

“We probably have four or five blokes that wouldn’t have played this week anyway because of injuries, head knocks, suspensions. We were down a minimum of five as it was,” Arthur said.

“Then there are other blokes like Nathan Brown who has been playing busted now for a while. This is an opportunity to give some of the other boys a run, blokes who haven’t played for a long period.

“Last year, in the major final, we lost Maika (Sivo), ‘Fergo’ (Blake Ferguson) and Marata (Niukore) in the space of 10 minutes against Melbourne and it all went pear-shaped.

“The next week we were down four players and then had to bring in four players who hadn’t played for two or three months.

“We have mixed things around over the last couple of weeks with rotations to give everyone some game time if we need to call on them. Our expectations of them will be high so we need to make sure we have put the time into their preparations.”

Parramatta legend Nathan Hindmarsh backed Arthur’s decision.

“They would rather forgo a position in the top four, which is only a 50/50 chance at the moment,” Hindmarsh said. “Do they back themselves in round one of the finals with a fresh side of key players?

“I don’t mind that he has given them a rest. I can see why BA has done it. He wants to give a few guys a taste in case something happens during the semi-finals series. I’ve got no drama with it, I’ve got no issue. Brad knows the team better than anyone else.

“As a Parramatta fan, I would like to see them in the top four, just in case, considering their form in finals over previous years. But I have full faith in BA in what he is doing.

“It depends on whether teams think they have capabilities not to need the top four and the second chance.”

Originally published as NRL 2021: New Parramatta captain Will Smith opens up on the loss of his grandfather ‘Uncle Bill’ Smith