Off-contract at the end of the 2025 NRL season, Sydney Roosters hooker and New Zealand international Brandon Smith has provided an update on his future and all but confirmed he will no longer be with the Sydney Roosters in 2026.
Moving to the Roosters at the start of 2023 after six seasons and 107 matches with the Melbourne Storm, Smith has failed to live up to expectations and has yet to reach his full potential at the Bondi-based club.
Struggling to find consistency and on a contract worth around $850,000 per season, reports emerged that he is unlikely to remain at the Sydney Roosters beyond next season as the club looks to make several marquee new signings in the coming years.
All but confirming that he won't be at the Roosters from 2026 onwards, Smith provided an update on his future during an episode of James Graham's The Bye Round podcast.
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"There's some meetings going on in the background, not with me but my manager and hopefully I'll have some news for The Bye Round soon," Smith said.
"I think it'll be sorted a bit faster than I thought but...I still want to be a Rooster for the year.
"I want to do everything I can to make this year a memorable one for me and the Roosters.
"I don't want to be known as just the Melbourne player because obviously had a great career at Melbourne (and) a great start to my career at Melbourne.
"If I was to retire now that would be the memory of my career. Looking to this year, I want to change that narrative a bit and try to finish on a good note with the Roosters and try and cement a nice place for the Roosters with my legacy moving forward."
Over the past few months, Smith has been linked with several rival NRL teams, including the Manly Sea Eagles, North Queensland Cowboys, Parramatta Eels and South Sydney Rabbitohs.
However, Smith would go on to shut down links to the Cowboys and Eels, while Manly Sea Eagles CEO Tony Mestov confirmed that the club will not be pursuing his services and they have "no plans" to sign him as Smith continues to look for a new team beyond 2025.
"Obviously we've got a good hooker in Lachlan Croker and then there's Gordon Chan Kum Tong and Jake Simpkin off the bench," Mestov told Yahoo Sport Australia.
"There's some really good competition between those three and we have high hopes for young Zaidas Muagututia, who we will see emerge over the next year or so.
"Brandon Smith is a quality player but we have no plans to make a move on him. We don't have room in the salary cap and we're very happy with what we've got."
