Jeremy Smith (rugby league, born 1980)

For the Illawarra Cutters and former New Zealand international player, see Jeremy Smith (rugby league, born 1981).
Jeremy Smith
Smith while playing for the Melbourne Storm in 2008
Personal information
Full name Jeremy Jon Oscar Smith
Born (1980-04-14) 14 April 1980
Christchurch, New Zealand
Playing information
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 100 kg (15 st 10 lb)
Position Lock, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2004–08 Melbourne Storm 67 12 1 0 50
2009–10 St. George Illawarra Dragons 30 5 0 0 20
2011–12 Cronulla Sharks 42 7 0 0 28
2013–16 Newcastle Knights 75 6 1 0 26
Total 214 30 2 0 124
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–12 New Zealand 22 3 8 0 28
2015 NRL All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [1]

Jeremy Smith (born 14 April 1980) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand national representative, he plays at lock and second-row. He played for the Melbourne Storm, with whom he won the 2007 NRL Grand Final with, the St. George Illawarra Dragons, with whom he won the 2010 NRL Grand Final with, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Newcastle Knights, who he co-captained, in the National Rugby League.

Background

Of Samoan heritage,[2] Smith was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. His date of birth is 14 April 1980, but on the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks website, it says his date of birth is 14 April 1985.[3] He is cousins with Kalifa Faifai Loa.[4]

Smith played his junior football for the Altona Roosters in Melbourne, Victoria[5] before moving to Queensland to play for Runaway Bay Seagulls RLFC. In 2002, Smith was signed by the Northern Eagles but returned to Queensland to play for Melbourne Storm feeder club, Brisbane Norths in the Queensland Cup. In 2004, Smith was named Brisbane Norths' Player of the Year.

Professional playing career

Melbourne Storm

Smith playing for the New Zealand at the 2008 RLWC.

In Round 23 of the 2004 NRL season Smith made his NRL debut for the Storm against the Canberra Raiders. He scored a try on debut. Smith didn't play first-grade in 2005 but became a regular first-grader in 2006. The Storm reached the 2006 NRL Grand Final and Smith was selected to play from the interchange bench in the loss to the Brisbane Broncos. He played in the 2007 NRL Grand Final win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, again selected off the interchange. After winning the 2007 NRL Grand Final with the Melbourne Storm, Smith was selected for the 2007 All Golds tour. Not to be confused with compatriot and namesake Jeremy James Smith, both Jeremy Smiths were named in the rugby league Centenary clash of 14 October 2007, Jeremy James Smith in the number 7 jersey and Jeremy Jon Oscar Smith in the number 13 jersey.[6][7] In August 2008, Smith was named in the New Zealand training squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup.[8] Later in the season Smith played in the 2008 NRL Grand Final defeat by Manly, starting in the second-row.[9] Smith signed a 3-year contract with the St. George Illawarra Dragons starting in 2009 to be a part of the new Wayne Bennett era at the Dragons.[10] In October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man New Zealand Kiwis squad.[11] Smith was a member of the World Cup-winning New Zealand team beating Australia in the 2008 World Cup final at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Queensland.

St. George Illawarra Dragons

In January 2009, Smith was named the 2008 New Zealand Rugby League Player of the Year.[12] In his first year at the Dragons, the team won the 2009 Minor Premiership after finishing first in the regular season and again won the Minor Premiership in 2010. In August 2010, Smith signed a 3-year contract with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks starting in 2011.[13] Smith played at lock in the Dragons' team that won the 2010 NRL Grand Final, defeating the Sydney Roosters. This was Smith's second premiership after the Storm's 2007 title. After that win, he had played in more grand finals than any other New Zealander.[14] After winning the 2010 NRL Grand Final with the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Smith was a part of New Zealand's successful 2010 Four Nations campaign.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Despite having a disappointing year with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2011, Smith was again chosen to represent New Zealand in the 2011 ANZAC Test and 2011 Four Nations. After a successful start to year with the Sharks, Smith was selected in the 2012 ANZAC Test. On 26 September 2012, Smith signed a 3-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2013 to rejoin his former Dragons coach, Wayne Bennett.[15] He was released from the final year of his Sharks contract due to personal reasons.[16] He was named the New Zealand Rugby League's 2012 Player of the Year.[17]

Newcastle Knights

Smith commenced playing with the Newcastle Knights in the 2013 NRL season.

On 22 August 2014, Smith became one of the current NRL players and former Sharks players to accept reduced bans from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority for his role in the club's 2011 supplements program.[18]

On 13 February 2015, Smith played for the NRL All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the annual All Stars match.[19] On 6 June 2015, he re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract.[20]

On 26 February 2016, Smith was announced as one of three co-captains for the Knights alongside Trent Hodkinson and Tariq Sims.[21] On 13 May 2016, he announced his retirement from rugby league at the end of the 2016 season.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Jeremy Smith - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
  2. ↑ Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑ "NRL: Smith cleared of Hopoate-like poke". The New Zealand Herald. Australian Associated Press. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Jenkinson, Lance (19 April 2015). "Altona Roosters plan to make it a year to remember". Maribyrnong Star Weekly.
  6. ↑ "Kiwis unveil new-look Test side". BBC News. 2007-10-07.
  7. ↑ Lowe, Robert (2007-10-09). "League: Smith has big shoes to fill". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
  8. ↑ "Kiwis select Sonny Bill". Sky Sports. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  9. ↑ "Grand final: As it happened". Fox Sports. 2008-10-05. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
  10. ↑ "2009 NRL Player Movements". NRL Live. 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  11. ↑ "Kiwis to wait on Webb and Matai". BBC. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  12. ↑ "Jeremy Smith named Kiwi player of the year". Macquarie National News. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  13. ↑ "Cronulla Sharks Snare Jeremy Smith From Arch Rivals St. George Illawarra". Dailytelgraph.com.au. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
  14. ↑ Burgess, Michael (3 April 2011). "NRL: Second to no one with attitude". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  15. ↑ Archived 30 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20121006063554/http://www.sharks.com.au/news-display/Sharks-grant-Smith-release/64448. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ Jeremy Smith named Kiwis' player of the year stuff.co.nz, 8 November 2012
  18. ↑ "Cronulla Sharks players accept doping bans". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 August 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  19. ↑ "Final All Stars teams announced". NRL.com. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
  20. ↑ "Smith signs on for one more - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 2015-06-06.
  21. ↑ NRL. "Newcastle Knights announce 2016 captains - Knights". Newcastleknights.com.au. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
  22. ↑ "Smith to retire at end of season". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
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