Storm trooper turns attention to Titans

A RELENTLESS smear campaign against Melbourne Stormand Cameron Smith has not distracted the NRL heavyweights from targeting their third minor premiership in four seasons on Sunday against Gold Coast Titans.

Past player turned Stormassistant Ryan Hinchcliffe said the annual attacks only steeled the “us against them’’ mentality at the club.

“You expect it, there is no doubt about that,” Hinchcliffe said. “It probably started a bit earlier this year … we don’t train or practice anything illegal so we know that we got nothing to worry about there, it’s just a matter of us going out there and doing what we know works for us.”

Storm blew a golden opportunity to cement top spot last week, coughing up an 18-0 lead to lose 22-18 to the Raiders.

Hinchcliffe promised a response against the Titans and yesterday defended Smith after the Storm captain received a “concerning act notice” from the NRL for a tackle on Canberra’s Bailey Simonsson.

A still image of Smith, purportedly pulling Simonsson’s ears, has done the rounds in recent days but Hinchliffe said the vision paints a different picture of the incident.

“I think you can see there he’s got hold of his (Simonsson’s) jersey and he’s trying to hold him on the ground,” Hinchcliffe said. “Yes his hands end up around his face but if you have a look across all the games on the weekend I’m sure you could find 20 or 30 or 40 of those tackles where hands end up around that area.”

— Gilbert Gardiner