Cameron Smith accused of ripping off Channel Nine by working for Queensland’s State of Origin team
Cameron Smith is accused of ripping off Channel Nine by working for Queensland’s Origin team when he was paid to comment
- Smith is the assistant coach of the Maroons
- Gave a halftime talk about the Queensland team
- Was a member of Nine’s Origin panel at the time
Queensland Origin legend Cameron Smith has been accused of not giving Channel Nine value for money after giving a halftime speech for the Maroons instead of commenting at the first State of Origin game of the year on Wednesday night.
As his colleagues dissected the first half of the game, Smith was filmed addressing Coach Billy Slater’s team in the locker room as he whipped them up for what turned out to be a miraculous 40 minutes of action.
Those scenes prompted prominent footy expert Phil Rothfield to question whether the former Storm Whore’s dual role constituted a “conflict of interest.”
Smith is pictured giving Queensland a half-time rev-up – although he was paid to comment on Nine on Wednesday night
Smith and Queensland coach Billy Slater (pictured together) are both nine commentators, and the pair share deep and longstanding ties with the Maroons
“How can you have a man work in the Channel 9 commentary box and coach the Maroons at the same time?” He wrote.
“You can’t double dip and do two jobs in one night.”
Asked on the broadcast about what he said to the players, Smith explained what he was emphasizing on the side.
“I just applauded the team for their efforts, especially their goal-line defense in the first half,” he said.
NSW spent a lot of time and there were plenty of tackles within the Maroons’ 20-yard zone.
“I was just repeating what the coaches said just before I got in there.”
Smith’s ties to Slater and the Maroons are longstanding and extremely strong.
While other Nine experts have worked Origin games while also working for one of the parties involved – such as NSW assistant coach Andrew Johns – no one has broken commentary duties mid-game to help their team the way Smith did
The pair played on the field for Queensland during their golden streak of wins over NSW from the early 2000s to 2017, all while leading the Melbourne Storm to an incredibly successful run in the NRL.
Smith was widely referred to as a waiting NRL coach as he retired at the end of the 2020 season and became an assistant coach at Queensland the previous year.
While other members of Nine’s commentary team have covered Origin for Nine while involved in coaching at the interstate level – such as NSW assistant Andrew Johns – they have not performed their duties for their team while on a broadcast.
Smith’s address clearly hit all the right notes as Queensland stormed back from 18-16 down through late tries to Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Cameron Munster to beat 26-18 winners – with both scoring while a man down courtesy of Thomas Throwing out Flegler’s controversial sins.