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Will Smith (rugby league)

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Will Smith (born 3 July 1992) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a five-eighth, fullback and hooker for Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Will Smith
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Smith[1]
Born (1992-07-03) 3 July 1992 (age 32)
Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight88 kg (13 st 12 lb)
Playing information
PositionFullback, Five-eighth, Halfback, Hooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2014–16 Penrith Panthers 21 2 4 0 16
2017–21 Parramatta Eels 54 9 0 0 36
2022 Gold Coast Titans 9 0 0 0 0
2022 Hull F.C. 7 2 4 0 0
2023 Wests Tigers 4 0 0 0 0
Total 95 13 8 0 52
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–22 Indigenous All Stars 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [2]
As of 26 August 2023

He previously played for the Gold Coast Titans, Parramatta Eels and the Penrith Panthers in the NRL, Hull F.C. in the English Super League and the Indigenous All Stars.

Background

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Smith was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and is an Indigenous Australian. His grandfather Uncle Bill Smith, who died on 29 August 2021, was a prominent Aboriginal elder in the Newcastle region.[3][4]

He played his junior football for the Western Suburbs Rosellas in the Newcastle Rugby League. He was then signed by the Newcastle Knights.[citation needed]

Playing career

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Early career

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From 2010 to 2012, Smith played for the Newcastle Knights' NYC team.[5][6] On 28 May 2012, he re-signed with the Newcastle club on a one-year contract.[7][8]

 
Smith playing for the Knights in 2013

In 2013, he moved on to Newcastle's NSW Cup team.[9] On 25 June 2013, he signed a two-year contract with the Penrith Panthers starting in 2014.[10][11]

2014

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In Round 21 of the 2014 NRL season, Smith made his NRL debut for the Penrith club against Canterbury-Bankstown replacing the injured Peter Wallace.[12][13] He would go on to play eight games for the Penrith club at five-eighth that year, including two games in the finals.[14] On 21 September, he was named at five-eighth in the 2014 New South Wales Cup Team of the Year.[15]

2015

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On 31 January and 1 February 2015, Smith played for Penrith in the 2015 NRL Auckland Nines.[16] He finished off the season playing nine games for the Penrith club scoring two tries and kicking four goals.

2016

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On 13 February, Smith played for the Indigenous All Stars against the World All Stars.[17] He was named in the Penrith 2016 NRL Auckland Nines squad.[18]

 
Smith playing for the Panthers in 2016

In November, it was announced that he would be joining the Parramatta Eels in 2017.[19]

2017

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Smith made his club debut for Parramatta in round 9 of the 2017 season, playing at five-eighth against the North Queensland Cowboys and scoring a try. On 5 July 2017, Smith resigned with the club on a one-year extension due to good form.[20] With Clint Gutherson and Bevan French injured, Smith moved to fullback and the end of the season, and finished the year of strongly playing 15 games (including two finals) and scoring six tries. In the elimination final match against the North Queensland Cowboys, Smith went from hero to villain in the space of 80 minutes. In the first half, Smith scored a length of the field try to make the score 10–6 at half time to Parramatta. In the second half, North Queensland playmaker Michael Morgan put up a routine bomb, in the resulting play Smith allowed the ball to bounce and did not attempt to catch it. Smith grabbed the ball on the second bounce but North Queensland player John Asiata raced up behind and stole the ball off Smith to score. This changed the momentum of the match and North Queensland went on to win 24–16.[21][22][23][24]

2018

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Smith made his first start for Parramatta in round 2 of the 2018 season where they were beaten 54-0 by Manly. On 28 June, Parramatta who were in last place almost managed to pull off one of the upsets of the season when they were leading 18–8 with 7 minutes left to play. In the resulting minutes, Smith threw a forward pass and then in another play attempted a 40/20 kick which went out on the full, thus, giving the ball back to St George and in the next Saints attacking spell they crossed for the match winning try to win 20–18.[25][26] After spending the next few weeks in reserve grade, Smith was recalled to the Parramatta side against St George in which Parramatta won the match 40–4 with Smith coming off the bench.[27]

2019

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Smith played in Parramatta's 20-12 opening round victory over Penrith. Smith was subsequently demoted to reserve grade where he spent the next 2 months. On 14 May, Smith was recalled to the Parramatta side at the expense of Jaeman Salmon who was demoted by coach Brad Arthur after the club were defeated by Melbourne 64–10 at Suncorp Stadium.[28][29]

Smith made his return to the Parramatta side in Round 10 against North Queensland which ended in a 17–10 loss. Following the club's 42–22 loss against Cronulla in Round 13, Smith was demoted to reserve grade by Brad Arthur and replaced with Jaeman Salmon.[30][31]

2020

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In round 18 of the 2020 NRL season, Smith played his first game for Parramatta in nearly 15 months against Penrith which they lost 20–2 at Penrith Park.[32]

In round 20 against the Wests Tigers, Parramatta won the match 28–24, Smith scored the winning try for Parramatta which ensured they would finish third on the table and finish inside the top four granting the club two chances in the finals series.[33]

In November, he signed a one-year contract extension to remain at Parramatta for the 2021 season.[34]

2021

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Smith played a total of 17 games for Parramatta in the 2021 NRL season including both finals matches. Parramatta were eliminated from the competition at the semi-final stage, this time losing to Penrith 8–6 in the lowest scoring match of the year.[35][36]

On 15 October, Smith signed a two-year deal to join the Gold Coast starting in the 2022 season.[37]

2022

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In round 1 of the 2022 NRL season, Smith made his club debut for the Gold Coast against his former club Parramatta. Parramatta would go on to win the match 32–28.[38] On 3 June, Smith was released by the Gold Coast club. Smith had requested the release on compassionate grounds.[39]

On 20 July, Smith signed a short-term contract to join Super League side Hull F.C. until the end of the 2022 season.[40] On 7 November, it was announced that Smith had signed a train and trial contract with the Wests Tigers for the 2023 NRL Preseason.[41]

2023

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Smith was limited to only four matches with the Wests Tigers in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished with the Wooden Spoon for a second straight year.[42]

References

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  1. ^ "Profiles". Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Will Smith – Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Eels wear black armbands in honour of three lives". Parramatta Eels. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  4. ^ Silva, Nadine (15 November 2021). "'Our hero': Hundreds farewell Aboriginal leader and pioneer Uncle Bill Smith". SBS. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  5. ^ "S". Nyc Database. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Will Smith". Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  7. ^ "Knights sign Gagai, re-sign Rochow and Smith". SportsAustralia.com. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  8. ^ "Knights sign Gagai; re-sign Rochow and Smith – Newcastle Knights". Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  9. ^ "Vb Nsw Cup Team Lists – Round Sixteen". NSWRL.com.au. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Will Smith to join Panthers for 2014 | NRL". Zero Tackle. 25 June 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Will Smith to join Panthers for 2014 – Newcastle Knights". Archived from the original on 29 June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ^ "NRL Team List – Round 21 – Panthers". Penrithpanthers.com.au. August 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  13. ^ "NRL 2014 – Round 21". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  14. ^ "Custom Match List". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  15. ^ "2014 VB NSW Cup Team of the Year". NSWRL.com.au. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  16. ^ "2015 Auckland Nines squad lists". National Rugby League. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  17. ^ Chris Garry (13 February 2016). "World All Stars defeat Indigenous All Stars 12-8 at Suncorp Stadium". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  18. ^ "2016 Downer NRL Auckland Nines Official Squads". National Rugby League. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  19. ^ ParraEels.com.au (2 November 2016). "Parramatta Eels announce signings for the 2017 squad". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  20. ^ Proszenko, Adrian (5 July 2017). "Will Smith proves his worth with new Parramatta Eels contract". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  21. ^ "Cowboys shock Eels to advance to NRL prelim final". ABC News. 16 September 2017.
  22. ^ Arnold, Rikki-Lee (16 September 2017). "Gutsy Cowboys down Eels in finals stunner". The Courier Mail.
  23. ^ "Parramatta Eels player ratings for semi-final v North Queensland Cowboys". 16 September 2017.
  24. ^ Tuxworth, Jon (16 September 2017). "Cowboys trounce Eels to continue finals fairytale". Townsville Bulletin.
  25. ^ "Dragons edge out Eels in dramatic NRL comeback". ABC News. 28 June 2018.
  26. ^ "Custom Match List – Rugby League Project".
  27. ^ "Eels v Dragons: Late changes for both teams". 11 August 2018.
  28. ^ "NRL teams Round 10: Every club's 21-man squad named". Australia: Fox Sports. 14 May 2019.
  29. ^ Johnson, Paul (14 May 2019). "Josh Reynolds backs Nathan Cleary and James Maloney for NSW Origin". News.com.au.
  30. ^ "Canterbury Cup NSW Team Lists". NSWRL. 11 June 2019.
  31. ^ "Team news, injury updates and suspensions ahead of Round 14". Fox Sports. 11 June 2019.
  32. ^ Savage, Nic (11 September 2020). "Parramatta Eels 'in deep trouble' after nightmare loss in western Sydney derby". News.com.au.
  33. ^ "Arthur convinced Eels are ready for Storm rematch". National Rugby League. 26 September 2020.
  34. ^ "Eels announce trio of signings". Australia: Fox Sports. 7 November 2020.
  35. ^ "Parramatta Eels defeat Newcastle Knights 28-20 in NRL elimination final". ABC News. 12 September 2021.
  36. ^ "Penrith Panthers handed NRL breach notice, fined $25,000 after incident in Parramatta semi-final". ABC News. 21 September 2021.
  37. ^ "Will Smith signs two-year deal with Gold Coast Titans". sportingnews.com.
  38. ^ "Eels win thriller with Titans, lose hat-trick hero Russell". ESPN.au. 13 March 2022.
  39. ^ "Will Smith granted release from Gold Coast Titans". sportingnews.com.
  40. ^ "Will Smith joins Hull FC for remainder of 2023 season". sportingnews.com.
  41. ^ "Will Smith joins Wests Tigers on one-year deal". sportingnews.com. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  42. ^ "'Circus act' that summed up year from hell... and big call left for Benji: Wests Tigers Brutal Review". Australia: Fox Sports.
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