Sydney Roosters dummy half has again turned heads after taking a blunt shot at Ryan Papenhuyzen's value on his podcast.
Speaking on the Jam and Cheese podcast - which also features former English prop James Graham - Smith said a story broken by The Sydney Morning Herald regarding a pay cut for Papenhuyzen didn't mean the club had undervalued him.
It's understood the Storm will only offer Papenhuyzen around $750,000 for his next deal as they look to balance their bloated salary cap. The star fullback is set to earn around $900,000 on his Storm deal for 2025.
It could see Papenhuyzen leave Victoria and return to Sydney, where several clubs are believed to be interested in signing him.
But Smith said the value being offered by the Storm, coming off the back of injuries over the last couple of seasons, was spot on.
โI don't think they [the Storm] undervalued him,โ Smith said on the podcast.
โI think if you look back in the last three years, he's played 15-odd games. I think that would have been a part of the decision-making process.
"We can't continue to pay this guy 1.1 mill [million] when he's playing 30 per cent of the season. He's small, and he's fragile.โ
The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting the comments have left both Papenhuyzen and the Storm's camp rattled.
It's not the first time Smith has hit the airwaves and caused a stir.
Before he joined the Roosters - and while he still had a year to run on his Storm deal - Smith made comments on the YKTR Sports podcast saying he wanted to win a premiership in the Roosters' jersey on an expletive-laden podcast that landed him in hot water with the Storm and NRL.
โI was just looking at the Roosters jersey โฆ going, โI want to win a premiership in that jersey',โ Smith said at the time before eventually signing his deal with the Roosters that expires at the end of 2025.
Smith's own value will come up for dispute in the coming weeks, with the hooker potentially looking for a new club from the start of 2026 and, with the November 1 deadline now having passed, being able to negotiate with rival outfits.
News Corp has reported previously that Smith is unlikely to stay with the Roosters as they move in a different direction.
While the New Zealand international wants to be a first-choice hooker, he hasn't lived up to that level of performance during his time in the tri-colours, although he showed improvement throughout 2024 before injuring his ACL in Round 26.
That means he will miss the first half of 2025, making the push for a re-signing at the Roosters or a deal worth similar to the reported $850,000 per season that he is on now during his current deal with the Roosters a difficult proposition.
Smith, speaking on the same podcast, though, did say his preference is to remain with the Roosters.
โI haven't spoken to them yet because Robbo is still away,โ Smith said on James Graham's The Bye Round.
โWhen we get back to training, we will have the proper discussion. Ideally, I would like to stay at the Roosters.
โI don't want to go anywhere, and my partner is well entrenched in the club. Ideally, I would like to stay, but the game of rugby league doesn't always have the same opinions as yourself.โ
The Roosters, who have already cleared plenty of unused salary cap space with the departures of Joseph Manu, Joseph Suaalii, Luke Keary and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves for 2025, are still working on their ability to make a full tilt at the market in 2026, with Terrell May another who has been permitted to exit Bondi.
