Bright start for Smith as Olam goes down
MELBOURNE Storm’s 32-24 loss to the Sydney Roosters in the Pre-Season Challenge was compounded by injury to star centre Justin Olam, who suffered a broken arm in Geelong.
Storm medical staff confirmed the injury and Olam is set to miss round 1.
For the Roosters, marquee signing Brandon Smith got his Tricolours career off to the best possible start, combining with Sam Walker and Victor Radley to help deliver his new club a victory against former outfit Melbourne.
CHEESY COMBOS
ALL eyes were on hooker Smith in Tricolours for the first time, against the side where he made a name for himself.
“It was a bit weird, looking up and seeing such familiar faces,” he told Fox League.
“It was kind of hard, seeing all the medical staff and physios and that on the sidelines and I was on the other side.
“It was weird hearing all the names they were calling out for the plays and stuff. I knew exactly what they were doing … it started confusing.”
The overall signs were not only positive for Roosters fans, but exciting.
Smith looked like he was already on the same page as Walker but the former Storm was not getting carried away.
“I’ve still got plenty of room for improvement here. I was a little bit shaky out there, still getting used to all the play names,” he said.
Out of dummy half, he put a charging Radley on to the ball, who powered over the tryline.
WELCOME RETURN
MELBOURNE’S forward pack was a pale shadow after stalwarts Jesse and Kenny Bromwich and Felise Kaufusi defected to the Dolphins.
It makes Christian Welch’s return from a long-term achilles injury all the more timely. His experience and leadership will be crucial for the Storm.
Centre Reimis Smith (pectoral) came through his first game in nine months unscathed.
SERIOUS BLOW
ALREADY lacking the strike power of fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen (knee), Craig Bellamy’s back five will miss blockbusting centre Olam.
The early diagnosis is an arm fracture. He will go for scans on the injury.