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Cameron Smith will not face any penalties for suggestions on the field that referee Gerard Sutton was trying to create an “exciting finale” to Melbourne’s NRL grand final triumph.
Smith potentially caused a stir in his final NRL game over the comments, as Penrith defended 26-0 against to make it 26-20 with three seconds left.
The Storm captain was particularly irritated when running back Jahrome Hughes was sent off for defeating Viliame Kikau in a kicking chase, before Brandon Smith followed him off the field.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Cameron Smith celebrates with his teammates after scoring a try during the Melbourne Storm NRL Grand Final over the Penrith Panthers.
“I get it, everyone wants an exciting ending. But we’re just like them,” Smith could be heard saying after Hughes’ binning.
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“Stop trying to get the little things out of our game for an exciting ending.”
The NRL’s match review committee evaluated the incident, but chose not to issue a charge.
The comments had been compared to those of Panthers coach Ivan Cleary earlier in the year, who suggested Canberra was being “managed” back into the game.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Cameron Smith holds up the Premiership trophy with his teammates celebrating.
Cleary was fined AU $ 20,000 from the NRL at the time, half of which was subsequently suspended.
But it is understood that the league center considers comments made on the field to be different than those made after a game at a post-game press conference.
Sutton is also believed not to have been offended by the situation and had no real problem with the comments.
It has been speculated that the victory could spell the end of the 37-year-old Smith’s career at the NRL, but Melbourne’s teammates have no doubt that he could continue playing in 2021 if he wishes.
Cameron Spencer / Getty Images
Cameron Smith with the spoils of victory.
Smith became the oldest rugby league prime minister since George Brown of North Sydney in 1922 in the Storm’s 26-20 triumph over Penrith.
Over and over again, since working full-time, Smith has insisted that he has no announcements to make, and right now he remains undecided.
“Whatever the outcome, whether he continues to play or retires, we will be happy,” said Lock Dale Finucane.
“Obviously, if he retires, he ends up in a fairy tale career in which he won a prime ministerial job.
“If he continues playing, he will continue to play really well.
“It’s not like he’s an older player fading from the game. At the end of the year he appeared in the Dally M points in the top 10.
“Whatever you decide we will accept and be happy.”
Melbourne Chief Executive Dave Donaghy also confirmed on Monday that he was still unsure of Smith’s fate, and that the captain will not begin any preseason training until January.
Meanwhile, Penrith has avoided any big ending pain, with James Fisher-Harris set to escape a late tackle ban on Brandon Smith.
The Panthers mainstay was reported for the first-half shot on Smith after he passed the ball, and on Monday he was charged with dangerous grade one contact.
However, an early guilty plea will see you avoid any ban.
If the New Zealand international had received a suspension, the ban would have been carried over to the start of next season.
The 24-year-old was the only player to come out of the grand final.
