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Show some respect, Sydney: NRL, Storm want fans to celebrate, not boo, Cam Smith
By Christian Nicolussi
October 23, 2020 — 12.00am
NRL and Melbourne officials are banking on Cameron Smith receiving a warm Sydney welcome with no repeat of the ugly booing directed at the departing Billy Slater two years ago.
Slater himself could never understand why some sections of the game were critical of the Storm leader and declared: "If we had 400 Cameron Smiths running around as role models, our game would be in a handy spot."
The travel restrictions in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic will mean even fewer Melbourne supporters will be spotted at ANZ Stadium in what could be the legendary No.9's final game.
While the Storm know there will not be a love-in for Smith like there was at Suncorp Stadium last Friday night, they expect at the very least for Sydneysiders to celebrate arguably the greatest player in the game, regardless if it his swansong.
Slater was booed with every touch and even afterwards when he was interviewed after the 2018 grand final loss, which was largely driven by him avoiding suspension for a shoulder charge at the judiciary in the lead-up.
Smith was so incensed at the booing directed at his teammate he said later that night: "He [Slater] has only ever been someone good for the game, I think he deserved a bit more respect than that."
Slater was not fazed by the hostile send-off and quipped "even Wally Lewis got booed".
"But I do think the responsibility needs to start with the voices in our game that influence other people and our fans," Slater told the Herald.
"I don't hear Andrew Johns or Phil Gould – people who have played and coached or administrated at the highest level in our game – talk about one of our greats like that.
"I honestly don't know why [he cops it]. Those people who are critical of Cameron mustn't know him like I do.
"He's not selfish – he's as selfless as any one I've played with – and if we had 400 Cameron Smiths running around as role models, our game would be in a handy spot.
"I don't mind fans being patriotic and that's what makes our game great. We just need to be careful it doesn't turn into abuse. We've cracked down on racial abuse, which is fantastic, but abuse is abuse and we need to make sure everyone is respectful to our players and everyone in the game."
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo did not believe there would be booing and said of Smith: "Cameron is a legend of the game, he's done what nobody else has done and that's bring up his 430th game – he is a player every fan would secretly love to have on their team.
"I'll be disappointed if he gets anything other than absolute respect and recognition. Regardless of who fans support, everyone respects the remarkable achievements of Cameron Smith. He is one of our greatest-ever players."
The Storm remain in the dark about Smith's next move. The 37-year-old has always polarised league fans in Sydney during the season and on the Origin arena. There have been the referee jokes.
And who can forget Paul Gallen walking off with some of his Blues players when Smith delivered a post-match series victory speech in 2016 at the same ground?
Storm chief executive Dave Donaghy loved the scenes last Friday with Melbourne and Canberra fans showing their appreciation for Smith.
"Nobody knows if it will be Cam's last game, but there should not be an occurrence of what happened with Billy again," Donaghy said.
"When Cameron walked off last weekend, seeing the whole northern end of the ground rise as one, regardless if they were wearing purple or green [Canberra] jerseys, they applauded him and it made me so proud to be involved in this game."
Penrith players, many of them who have played fewer career games than Smith has played finals, spoke glowingly this week about their grand final opponent.
And he does perform a consistently high quality late flop.
Bennett, smith, origin, 2003 i believe
Never heard of the f**ker
SBW set the precedent for contracts only involving a handfull of games
Would definitely love to see it but simply won’t happen. Can you imagine the negativity around it?
I hope he goes out the same way as Billy Slater. Booed by a capacity crowd and on the receiving end of a loss.
