NRL legend Cameron Smith has let rip at his former teammates after two Melbourne Storm stars were seen in a room with white powder.
Melbourne legend Cameron Smith says the “dumb” actions of his former teammates Cameron Munster and Brandon Smith have tarnished the reputation of his old club after the pair became embroiled in a video scandal.
The NRL Integrity unit and the Melbourne Storm have launched investigations after two videos emerged on Monday appearing to show Munster and Smith in a room with white powder.
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Munster, Smith and Chris Lewis have been interviewed by the NRL Integrity Unit and could be handed hefty fines and suspended for several matches next season.
Speaking on SEN radio, Smith labelled the behaviour of the players “dumb” and “mind-boggling”.
“It’s just a poor choice,” he said.
“It’s dumb, it really is.
“I’d like to think these guys are a bit smarter than the way they’ve acted.
“To allow outsiders into a room and they’ve got phones out filming … it’s mind-boggling to see these guys make these poor choices.”
Smith, who played 433 games for Melbourne, said he was particularly disappointed in Munster and Smith, adding their actions have undone years of hard work to build the Storm into one of the most respected sporting clubs in Australia.
“Particularly guys like Cameron Munster and Brandon Smith, they’re two guys that are considered leaders of that Melbourne Storm squad and they’re former teammates of mine and I’m as disappointed as anyone with the choice that they made,” Smith said.
“I’m extremely disappointed with what they’ve done post their prelim final (loss to Penrith) on the weekend. It’s just a really poor choice.
“They’ve put so much heat and spotlight on the Melbourne Storm as an organisation and the same on their teammates and former players.
“I played my entire career there, Billy Slater played his entire career there, Ryan Hoffman played the most part of his career, same as Cooper Cronk. All these wonderful players who for their entire career did the right thing.
“That’s the most disappointing thing and the thing that annoys me.
“It’s taken a lot of those people a long period of time to build that organisation and have it held in such a high regard in this country as one of the great sporting organisations not just in rugby league but across all sports in Australia.
“And then you’ve got guys wanting to make dumb choices and that can bring it all down in an instant.”
The three-time NRL premiership winner said as leaders of the club, Munster and Smith should be behaving better and not put themselves in compromising situations.
“I just don’t know what they are thinking in those moments,” Smith said.
“I understand there’s a lot of people the same age as them out in the world doing this but these guys have a wonderful opportunity to do some great things in their life while they’re playing football.”
On Wednesday, Melbourne football boss Frank Ponissi defended the Storm’s culture as many questioned whether the club’s high standards had begun to slip.
“It’s only a couple of days (since) we’ve been lauded about our culture,” Ponissi told SEN. “So, suddenly your culture doesn’t change in one incident.
“Look, any time there is an incident in the club, it’s a problem.
“But it certainly is not widespread, and again it’s probably how you react.”
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