Smith tactics defended

MELBOURNE Storm assistant coach Jason Ryles has stood up for skipper Cameron Smith, who has been accused of dirty play during their NRL preliminary final win over Canberra.

Smith has come under fire for appearing to knee Raiders skipper Jason Croker’s injured leg and pushing him over after a Storm try late in the first half. The incident was not deemed worthy of any action by the match review committee, with Ryles saying that Melbourne was the team that others loved to hate, particularly during the NRL finals.

That has gone up a notch with Sunday’s ANZ Stadium decider between the Storm and Cronulla being billed as a state-against-state showdown.

“You can make a lot out of a still shot,” Ryles said of a photograph of the collision.

“It’s the same thing, different year for the Storm.

“When I was playing the same thing happened and now I’m coaching four or five years later it’s still happening so we certainly don’t read into it.”

The former Kangaroos prop, who played two years for Melbourne before his retirement, didn’t believe Smith was a protected species. He said as Australian captain Smith had earnt the respect of referees.

“He’s obviously a quality player and he’s the Test captain and the referees have a lot of respect for him and he has respect for the referees. If I was the referee and the Test captain came up to me and spoke politely than I would speak to him and I think that’s basically all he does.”

Since Ryles took over as forwards coach this season the Storm have taken their game to a new level. But he was quick to deflect his own efforts, making special mention of the improvement from lock Dale Finucane and prop Jordan McLean, and said that was a key to Melbourne’s success.

Ryles sat out Melbourne’s 2012 grand final triumph over the Bulldogs because of a hamstring injury.

He said being a part of this campaign was just as special.

“It still meant a lot in 2012 winning the grand final and this would as well,” he said.

“It’s an honour and a privilege to be part of it.”