Cameron Smith: He played more games and scored more points than any other NRL player – but footy fans have one HUGE problem with star receiving Hall of Fame honour

Cameron Smith has played more professional games and scored more points than any other rugby league player since 1908. Still, many football fans were outraged when the Melbourne Storm legend was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame on Wednesday night.

Smith, 41, retired just months after winning the competition in 2020, but his refusal to acknowledge Melbourne skirted the salary cap during his successful NRL career has still raised concerns among numerous supporters.

“Cameron Smith should not be considered for immortality status until the NRL explains to the rest of Rugby League why his wife got a diamond ring… once that’s explained to us all then it can be debated,” someone on X tweeted.

A second wasted no time in posting: ‘Cameron Smith is a stain on the sport, he should never be considered for immortal status. Him and his Storm mates sign two contracts….[they] should never come close to these accolades. They cheated to keep a great team together, which has benefited them all significantly.’

A third added: ‘No Storm player or coach should be allowed to enter HOF/Immortal status until they publicly admit they cheated and the club stops this nonsense of publicly celebrating titles that have been taken away.’

A fourth responded angrily: ‘Yes indeed. The best food ever.’

Although Smith and his Melbourne teammates have been cleared of personal wrongdoing by the NRL, fans have been left scratching their heads over the fact that the champion hooker signed two contracts with the club after it cheated the salary cap.

Smith admitted he had done so, but said one was an NRL contract and the other an agreement to remain with the Storm. He denied he was ever told there would be any payments outside the salary cap.

Smith, 41, retired just months after winning a championship in 2020, but his lack of remorse for Melbourne’s salary cap avoidance during his successful career continues to irk many fans (pictured with wife Barbara at the Hall of Fame gala)

Despite a remarkable career, Cameron Smith (pictured in the 2020 NRL final) remains a highly polarising figure

Fans were also outraged when his wife Barbara was given a diamond ring, believed to be worth $15,000, by the NRL in 2019 at a private dinner celebrating Smith’s 400th NRL appearance.

Last year, Smith defended the Storm as they celebrated their 25th season by producing their 2007 and 2009 championship trophies during a pre-match ceremony.

Responding to criticism from fans, Smith was adamant: “They wouldn’t understand how we feel about it.”

“What I’m saying is that I can understand why it irritates a lot of people and that’s fine, as long as those people can also acknowledge that I don’t think they understand at all how the Storm people felt about it at that time,” he said.

Melbourne won the trophy in 2012, 2017 and 2020, in accordance with the salary cap.

In 2010, then NRL boss David Gallop condemned the club after an audit revealed the Storm used dual accounting systems to hide salary cap breaches from auditor Ian Schubert.

“This system has allowed them to attract and retain some of the biggest names in rugby league and in doing so they have failed the sport, the players and the fans of the Melbourne Storm,” Gallop said at the time.

‘It would be unfair to the players and fans of all the other clubs in the competition if we allowed the Storm to retain the titles they have won.’

In 2019, during the official start of the NRL season, Smith controversially declared that Melbourne should re-enter the two championships from 2007 and 2009.

This football fan believes Smith doesn’t belong in the Immortal conversation after he ‘consciously signed two different contracts’

Another supporter savagely called Smith a “stain on the sport” on X

A 2022 image of the Melbourne Storm incorrectly stated the club had won five NRL championships, angering some football fans

Craig Bellamy and the Storm won the NRL Trophy in 2007 (above) and 2009, but were stripped of both titles in 2010 due to salary cap breaches.

It followed Cronulla’s success, emerging from their own salary cap scandal without losing their 2016 NRL title.

“The obvious difference for me is that there was a fair amount of time spent gathering all the evidence, the emails and things like that,” Smith said in a response that angered many fans of rival NRL clubs.

‘When I look at what happened at Cronulla and what I know happened at our club, it sounds quite similar… and yet we had to go an entire season without any points (2010) and were stripped of (two) championships.

“It’s almost the same or a similar crime, just with a completely different punishment.”

Smith also indicated that the club’s inner circle recognises the Storm have won five NRL championships.

The club further angered fans by publishing a graphical representation of the 2007 and 2009 title wins in a social media post to mark coach Craig Bellamy’s 500th game as the team’s manager.