‘Nasty’: Smith responds to criticism
Brandon Smith has labelled Braith Anasta’s comments about him ‘nasty’ as the hooker revealed his struggle with distancing himself from critics’ attacking the star-studded Sydney Roosters.
The 10th-placed Roosters face St George Illawarra at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Friday evening, under pressure to turn around a twogame losing run.
Having escaped with a 27-26 win over the Dragons on Anzac Day, the Roosters now have to contend with a side desperate to bounce back after coach Anthony Griffin was sacked this week.
The Roosters have their own issues. Joseph Manu and Sam Walker are both sidelined through injury, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is battling to overcome a pectoral issue, there is the distraction of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii’s impending defection to rugby and form concerns around several key players, headlined by Smith.
The former Melbourne Storm star joined the Roosters as a marquee signing in the off-season taking over from Sam Verrills and pegged as the player to lift the Tricolours back into premiership contention.
But the Roosters have struggled for consistency with five wins from their opening 10 games, and Smith, speaking on the latest episode of the Matty Johns Podcast, conceded he hasn’t been able to escape the critics’ barbs.
“I should’ve brought actually some comments about the nasty things people have been saying about me,” he said.
“Braith Anasta was actually in the club today. So, I didn’t want to.”
Asked by Trish Johns had Anasta said something about him, Smith said: “That’s the hard part. I’ve got off the socials, trying to watch Yellowstone instead of watching NRL 360.
“But then I’ve got a father that watches it all too much and will just send pretty much the script straight to me.”
That script was a veiled reference to Anasta’s comments this week that Smith wasn’t performing as a hooker.
“I said 12 months ago when he signed that I think Brandon Smith is a lock,” Anasta said on NRL 360. “His service out of dummy half is not where it needs to be.”