Sydney Roosters hooker Brandon Smith has fought back tears as he describes how his mother, niece and nephew paid the price when he became embroiled in a white powder video scandal.
The New Zealand international was involved in the infamous incident with then-Storm teammates Cameron Munster and Chris Lewis after his team was knocked out of the 2021 final.
A leaked video showed them in a hotel room with a mysterious white substance on a coffee table. Smith was seen sitting at the table with a rolled up note and a card.
All players were suspended for one game and fined as a result.
Brandon Smith and Storm teammates Cameron Munster and Chris Lewis were banned following their infamous white powder scandal in 2021.
Smith recently opened up about that tumultuous period of his life while appearing on The Keegan and Company podcast.
“It sucks, bro, it sucks,” said Smith, who revealed that he first heard the news while attending the Dally M Awards ceremony.
‘But not for me. It sucked for my mom: she wanted me to enjoy her night and then, bro, what really hit me was that my niece and nephew were being bullied at school for something I did.
‘You know I did that and hearing it from my brother and just seeing that shit bro was definitely something that hurt my heart.
“You being an idiot caused so much pain to your family and your loved ones… like disappointing them is the biggest fear for me, and when it affects the people around you, that’s when it really impacts me.”
Smith also found himself in trouble at the Storm for saying the team had a strong drinking culture.
Smith (pictured playing for the Storm) said the impact the white powder scandal had on his family really hit home.
The star forward said the ramifications of his actions really “hurt his heart.”
“At Storm, drinking is a huge part of the culture,” he said on the YKTR podcast.
‘As a football player, I want to be remembered as the jerk who went out and tried. (Previous players say) Damn, I love watching you play, you get so fucking hard.
‘At the Storm, bro, drinking is a huge part of the culture.
‘We had a beer pong competition at my house and Scott Drinkwater, we were playing beer pong, Dale (Finucane) was blind and Scott kept pouring vodka into his beer glasses and he drank a bottle of vodka in 32 minutes, like a whole bottle . and he was so angry.
“He doesn’t realize how strong he is, he grabs you and just manhandles you and 20 minutes later he has his shoe and he’s throwing up in his shoe.”
Smith apologized for the comments and was slapped by coach Craig Bellamy and Melbourne director of football Frank Ponissi.
“The drinking thing… we’ve been in the top four seven years in a row, and that doesn’t happen if you’re a drunk team,” Bellamy said.
In the second round of the 2022 season, Smith was accused of mocking Souths star Latrell Mitchell by impersonating his field goal celebration after the Storm’s golden point victory, despite not playing in the game due to injury.
Later that season, he was investigated by the NRL for allegedly using a sexual slang term when he interrupted teammate Xavier Coates during an interview on Anzac Day.