Inevitably he's going to look better in a winning team than in a losing team, that's undeniable. You've only got to look at the masses of players that have been picked in rep sides after winning the premiership, only to see them slip back into obscurity as their club slides down the ladder.
After the Panthers won the premiership, players like Rooney, Lewis, Wesser, Clinton, Gulavao, Waterhouse etc. were playing Origin and international. None of them get near rep jerseys anymore, and all are relatively young still.
Look I'm not trying to knock Smith, he's a fantastic player(and certainly not in the same category as the aforementioned). But I'm looking forward to the day that he's part of a struggling team and doesn't have the luxury of 10 other international players, 4 Origin players and three Country players in his side. Those figures weren't made up.
Come that day, if he doesn't perform as well as he has been recently, will he get called "old" and "past it"? Will people be calling for him to hand over his rep spot to a young hooker in a successful side?
