CAHILL CLOSER TO CUP TEAM
IN the end, family won out over football, signalling the end for Queensland’s ultimate Origin ironman.
The Queensland rugby league fraternity was yesterday left with mixed feelings of shock and awe following Maroons skipper’s Cameron Smith bombshell decision to retire from representative football.
The decision is effective immediately, meaning the most capped player in Origin history, with 42 appearances, has worn his beloved Queensland and Australia jumpers for the last time.
With the State of Origin opener at the MCG on June 6 just 21 days away, the Maroons were banking on Smith to stabilise Queensland following the representative retirements of champion duo Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk.
Now, Queensland coach Kevin Walters faces a nightmare to replace his “big three”.
Maroons champion Greg Inglis is the frontrunner to be named captain after maturing as a leader at South Sydney.
But he is on the Origin comeback trail after a year out due to a knee reconstruction.
Cowboys co- captain Matt Scott is a front- row warhorse who would command the respect of every teammate but is also struggling to recover his best form after knee surgery.
Fullback Billy Slater will be one of the first picked by the Maroons but the presence Smith has at the Storm has denied him the opportunity of NRL captaincy experience. Smith ( pictured) yesterday fronted a press conference in Melbourne to open up about the family heartache that drove his decision.
“It’s been a lengthy process to come to this decision,” said the Storm, Queensland and Australia captain. “I started having small thoughts last year. It was a big season for myself and other players who played in the World Cup at the end of the year.
“This year is the right time for me to finish up ( with Queensland and Australia). Last year more than any other year, the Origin series had a greater effect mentally and physically on me.
“When I wasn’t playing for the Melbourne Storm one weekend, I wasn’t offering much at home as a husband and father.