Cameron Smith unfairly cast as a villain in McKinnon story
The Australian
July 07, 2015 12:00AM
The 2012 grand final. Lincoln Lewis, noted thespian and son of Wally ‘‘The King’’ Lewis, sits in the crowd at ANZ Stadium wearing a Melbourne Storm jersey with the No 9 on its back.
Obvious question. Why is Lewis a Storm fan when his *father was the Brisbane Broncos’ inaugural captain? From where does this affinity with the Storm emanate? The answer. When Wally Lewis was in Melbourne recovering from brain surgery, Smith led a procession of Storm players to the hospital each day.
Amid the myriad of visitors, Smith was the one constant. Rain, hail or shine, he would make a pilgrimage to offer support to Lewis and his family.
Does that sound like the *actions of a man without a heart? A man whose only concern is winning football games? As one person close to Smith noted *yesterday, if he had been given the chance he would have been at Alex McKinnon’s hospital bed every day as well.
Instead, Smith and his teammates were told to stay away by Newcastle officials. Not for days, not for weeks, but for months on end. All the while, McKinnon’s anger festered until it exploded in an attack on Smith only days before one of the biggest games of his career.
If this was about a phone call, then blame lies on many fronts. Sure, Smith could have picked up the phone and given McKinnon a call. But if Knights officials were aware of McKinnon’s enmity towards Smith, why didn’t they pass on a message so the Storm skipper could extend an olive branch?
Then-Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett has a relationship with Melbourne’s Craig Bellamy stretching back decades, yet at no point did he *inform anyone in Melbourne of McKinnon’s feelings. It is understood that Bellamy’s relationship with Bennett has been strained by the events of last year, yet all it required was a phone call.
Instead, Smith was hung out to dry by Channel Nine’s 60 *Minutes as they replayed footage of the Storm skipper arguing with the officials about the *tackle which ended McKinnon’s career. No dispute, it was a bad look. Yet it needs to be put in context. In the absence of any knowledge of the extent of McKinnon’s injuries, Smith’s primary concern at the time was with his own player, Jordan McLean.
McLean became one of the centrepieces of the story afterwards as well. For months, we all wondered whether McLean had spoken to McKinnon. Whether he had found the courage to make the call.
During that period, no one asked whether Smith had contacted the injured Newcastle forward. It wasn’t an issue. His actions, while they were spoken about in the immediate aftermath to McKinnon’s injury, were quickly forgotten. Smith didn’t forget. He honoured McKinnon by wearing his jersey number in the Rise for Alex round, which he helped launch along with NSW captain Paul Gallen.
More than a year later, Smith’s response has come into question and the criticism arrives as he prepares for one of the biggest games of his career. At Suncorp Stadium tomorrow night, Smith will move alongside Darren Lockyer as the most capped State of Origin player of all time. At the same time, he will doing everything in his power to ensure Queensland regain the Origin shield. McKinnon’s comments will hang in the air.
Smith’s Queensland teammates wrapped a protective blanket around him yesterday. It is understood he didn’t watch the story when it went to air on Sunday night but is likely to do so in the days after Origin III.
By then, he will be back in Melbourne surrounded by more familiar faces. Support has arrived from many quarters, just as it did for McKinnon. Even in NSW, there is a level of sympathy for Smith. Like Lincoln Lewis, plenty of people see the good side in a man who has suddenly been cast as a villain.
