Jeremy Smith (born 14 April 1980) is a New Zealand former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. A

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international representative, he played as a and . He played for the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

, the

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

, with whom he won the

2010 NRL Grand Final The 2010 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2010 NRL season. Played on Sunday, 3 October at Sydney's ANZ Stadium, the match was contested by the St. George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters. It was ...

with, the

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...

and the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

, who he co-captained, in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

Background

Of Samoan heritage, Smith was born on 14 April 1980, in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. He is a cousin of Kalifa Faifai Loa. Smith was educated at Coombabah State High School. Smith played his junior football for the

Altona Roosters Altona Roosters Rugby League Club is an Australian rugby league football club based in West Melbourne formed in the late 1980s. They conduct teams for both junior and senior teams. The club has also produced a number of juniors for the Melbourne ...

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

before moving to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

to play for

Runaway Bay Seagulls The Runaway Bay Seagulls is a rugby league club based on the northern end of the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. They play out of Bycroft Oval and their colours are Navy Blue, Red & White. The Seagulls' first season in the Gold Coast Rugby ...

RLFC. In 2001, Smith was signed by the

Northern Eagles The Northern Eagles were a rugby league team that competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) between 2000 and 2002. The club was formed during the rationalisation process of the NRL by forming a joint venture with the North Sydney Bears and th ...

, but was sacked by coach Peter Sharp. He returned to

, eventually finding his way to play for

feeder club,

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. In 2004, Smith was named Devils Player of the Year.

Professional playing career

Melbourne Storm

In round 23 of the

2004 NRL season The 2004 NRL season (also known as the 2004 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra) was the 97th season of professional rugby league football in Australia, and the seventh run by the National Rugby League. Fifteen clubs competed dur ...

, Smith made his

debut for the

against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. 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 The 2006 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding match of the NRL's 2006 Telstra Premiership season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and the third-placed Brisbane Broncos clubs on the night of Sunday, ...

and Smith was selected to play from the interchange bench in the loss to the

Broncos A bucking horse is any breed of horse, male or female, with a propensity to buck. They have been, and still are, referred to by various names, including bronco, broncho, and roughstock. The harder they buck, the more desirable they are for ro ...

. He played in the

2007 NRL Grand Final The 2007 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive, premiership-deciding match of the 2007 NRL season. It was played between the first-placed Melbourne Storm and second-placed Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at Telstra Stadium on 30 September, in front o ...

win over the Sea Eagles, again selected off the interchange. In 2010, the premiership that Smith won with Melbourne was stripped by the

due to the club's major and deliberate breaches of the salary cap. After winning the

with the

, Smith was selected for the

2007 All Golds tour The 2007 All Golds Tour was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team, the Kiwis, of Great Britain and France. The Kiwis played five test matches, winning one against France national rugby league team, France, but losing the game agains ...

. Not to be confused with compatriot and namesake Jeremy James Smith, both Jeremy Smiths were named in the

Centenary clash of 14 October 2007, Jeremy James Smith in the number 7 jersey and Jeremy Jon Oscar Smith in the number 13 jersey. Jeremy Smith

In August 2008, Smith was named in the New Zealand training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. Later in the season Smith played in the

2008 NRL Grand Final The 2008 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2008 NRL season. It was played between the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm on Sunday, 5 October at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The 2008 Grand Fi ...

defeat by Manly, starting in the . Smith signed a 3-year contract with the

starting in 2009 to be a part of the new Wayne Bennett era at the Dragons. In October 2008, he was named in the final 24-man

New Zealand Kiwis The New Zealand national rugby league team () has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. The team's colours ar ...

squad. Smith was a member of the World Cup-winning New Zealand team beating

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in the

2008 World Cup final The 2008 Rugby League World Cup final was the championship-deciding game of the 2008 Rugby League World Cup tournament. Played between New Zealand and Australia on 22 November 2008 at Brisbane's Lang Park, the match was a re-play of the 2000 Rug ...

Suncorp Stadium Brisbane Stadium (Lang Park), currently known as Suncorp Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Milton, Queensland, Milton, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Nicknamed The Cauldron, it is a three-tiered rect ...

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. In 2010, the premiership that Smith won with Melbourne in 2007 was stripped by the NRL for major and deliberate breaches of the salary cap.

St. George Illawarra Dragons

In January 2009, Smith was named the 2008

New Zealand Rugby League The New Zealand Rugby League (NZRL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league, rugby league football in New Zealand.#SPARC-2009, SPARC, 2009: 13 The NZRL was founded on 25 April 1910 in preparation for a 1910 Great Britain Lions tour o ...

Player of the Year. 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

starting in 2011. Smith played at in the Dragons' team that won the

, defeating the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. This was Smith's first valid premiership. After that win, he had played in more grand finals than any other New Zealander. After winning the

with the

, Smith was a part of New Zealand's successful

2010 Four Nations The 2010 Rugby League Four Nations tournament was played in Australia and New Zealand in October and November 2010. The tournament was the second time the Four Nations had been held, following on from the 2009 edition held in England and France. ...

campaign.

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

Despite having a disappointing year with the

in 2011, Smith was again chosen to represent New Zealand in the 2011 ANZAC Test and

2011 Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette), was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament, and was played in England and Wales durin ...

. After a successful start to year with the Sharks, Smith was selected in the 2012 ANZAC Test. On 26 September 2012, Smith signed a three-year contract with the

starting in 2013 to rejoin his former Dragons coach, Wayne Bennett. He was released from the final year of his Sharks contract for personal reasons. He was named the

's 2012 Player of the Year.

Newcastle Knights

Smith commenced playing with the

in the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixt ...

. 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 The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a Australian Government, government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping in sport, doping. The authority was part of the D ...

for his role in the club's 2011 supplements program. On 13 February 2015, Smith played for the NRL All Stars against the Indigenous All Stars in the annual

All Stars match The Rugby League All Stars Match of the National Rugby League is an annual rugby league football match between the specially-formed Indigenous All Stars and an All Stars team, both of whose members are made available for selection public vote. ...

. On 6 June 2015, he re-signed with the Knights on a 1-year contract. On 26 February 2016, Smith was announced as one of three co-captains for the Knights alongside

Trent Hodkinson Trent Hodkinson (born 31 August 1988) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the National Rugby League, NRL. He played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in two separate spells, the Canterbury-Bankstow ...

and

Tariq Sims Tariq Sims (born 9 February 1990) is a Fiji international rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. He previously played for the North Queensland Cowboys, Newcastle Knights, St. George Illawarr ...

. On 13 May 2016, he announced his retirement from rugby league at the end of the 2016 season.

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jeremy 1980 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Doping cases in Australian rugby league Melbourne Storm players New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand sportspeople in doping cases New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Newcastle Knights captains Newcastle Knights players NRL All Stars players Queensland Residents rugby league team players Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Christchurch Rugby league second-rows St. George Illawarra Dragons players