Former Australian, Queensland and Melbourne Storm captain Cameron Smith has retired at the age of 37.
Smith has played 430 recorded National Rugby League matches at club level and played in 56 Kangaroo Tests.
Versatile Career
He has won two world cups, the 11 times the State of Origin series with the Maroons and three NRL titles, including in 2020.
“It felt like the right time,” Smith said. “You couldn’t have asked for more than finishing with a premiership at a club I’ve played my whole career with.”
Brisbane-born Smith made a name for himself in Melbourne, helping Storm gain strength after his debut in 2002, and transferred his form to representative football.
Queensland won 11 of the 12 Championships between 2005 and 2017 under his leadership and Australia won the back to back World Cup titles, one in each region.
‘Greatest Player’
“He’s the greatest player I’ve ever seen,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said at the unveiling of a statue featuring both Smith and former club and country team-mate Billy Slater – who retired in 2018 – at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
“His record of well over 400 games – no-one has done that. He’s played over 100 representative games and the success he’s had as a captain has not been done in the [Australian] game and I can’t see it happening again.
“It’s hard to described his effect on our club but it’s how long he’s done it for. To do it for near on 20 years is unparalleled.”
Retirement
His haul would have included two further NRL premierships had the club administration not been penalised for salary cap breaches, which saw their 2007 and 2009 championships stripped.
He twice won the Dally M award for ‘best and fair’ in the 2006 and 2017 competitions, the hooker of the year award nine times, and twice won the Golden Boot, which was awarded to the world’s best player.
