- Brandon Smith has been abandoned by the Roosters
- Smith missed a team meeting last week
- His lucrative contract with the club is in danger
Brandon Smith has been dropped after failing to attend a Sydney Roosters team meeting during their NRL bye week.
Smith missed the Roosters’ mid-season review on June 3, a self-described “rookie mistake” that the premiership-winning hooker feared could lead to the club terminating his lucrative contract.
The sixth-placed Roosters have yet to take that step, but in a meeting on Tuesday afternoon the club’s coaching staff decided Smith would not play in Saturday’s Round 15 clash against Parramatta.
The decision came after the Roosters served Smith with a default notice last week, frustrated by the latest in a list of indiscretions since he arrived from Melbourne in 2023.
In good form this season, Connor Watson will start at hooker in place of Smith, having recovered from a throat injury.
The Roosters have left out Brandon Smith for their game this weekend.
Smith got into trouble after missing a team meeting last week
Smith addressed the incident publicly for the first time on Tuesday morning, saying he had gone out for coffee with his teammate and was unaware the team would meet during their Round 14 break as he had left his phone at home.
“It was stupid of me,” Smith told The Bye Round podcast.
‘You check your schedule before going to sleep. But I was thinking about a normal game, you go to sleep and have a day off after the game.
‘Because we had the break, I was thinking we will definitely do it (have a day off). I should have checked and I didn’t, and when I got home (the meeting) it was over.’
Signed through 2025 after exercising a player option this year, Smith said the noncompliance notice could be considered a formal warning and came with a suspended fine.
But he worried that during the bye week there could be more serious repercussions.
‘There are many rumors circulating because I had an infraction. “I was starting to think I was going to get fired too,” she said.
‘It is a warning but also a fine. I don’t know if I pay anything, it’s suspended. If I get that second violation, I pay that fine, but you don’t want a second violation.
“Not much (more disciplinary action) has really come of it.”
There are concerns surrounding Smith’s lucrative contract with the Sydney club
Smith said he was “pretty sad” during the bye week and limited his time on social media in an attempt to snap out of his funk.
“You can control aerosols, but when you get them via email it’s a lot tougher,” he said.
“I’m trying to divert my energy away from that because, to be honest, it’s been eating up my entire bye week.”
Smith has since returned to the team and said he was the “first one in practice” on Monday.
Roosters teammates managed to laugh at Smith’s mistake, but coach Trent Robinson was less jocular.
“The kids were funny and made fun of me,” Smith said.
‘Trent was disappointed because it’s a big rookie mistake.
‘I feel like I let people down and I don’t like letting people down. “It definitely made me want to relax a little bit and focus on what’s really important.”