Former Melbourne player Brett Kimmorley says Cameron Smith was “clever” in his negotiations with the Storm to secure a multi-year deal.
Last year, reports surfaced there was a stalemate between the Storm and Smith over the length of his new deal, but the club has handed their captain a two-year deal.
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“Maybe the fact Billy Slater had retired, maybe Cameron had the upper hand in the negotiation or the bargaining here,” Kimmorley told SEN Breakfast.
“I don’t think they could have afforded to lose Cameron Smith, so in some way it was pretty clever from Cameron himself to push for two years.
“His body hasn’t broken down, he played all 27 matches last year.
“It’s a very high impact sport but for some reason Cameron doesn’t take a lot of the collisions.
“He just seems to do it with ease, he doesn’t seem to be puffed at full time.”
The Storm begin their 2019 campaign on Thursday March 14 at AAMI Park against Brisbane.
Listen to Brett Kimmorley’s chat with Nigel Carmody and Nick Dal Santo on SEN Breakfast in the player below