By George Al-Akiki
The hooker鈥檚 fortune turned from bad to worse as he became victim of a suspect hip-drop tackle late in the Rabbitohs 30-12 loss to Manly in Brookvale.
Smith鈥檚 debut was cut short as Manly prop Matt Lodge attempted a tackle and landed awkwardly on his opponent鈥檚 leg, with the 鈥榗heese鈥 heading straight for the tunnel.
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Souths coach Wayne Bennett in his press conference after the match revealed Smith had suffered an MCL injury that will keep his new hooker sidelined yet again until late into the season.
鈥淗e鈥檚 done a medial ligament, he will be six to eight weeks from that tackle,鈥 Bennett said.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 pretty happy that it鈥檚 only six to eight weeks, not eight months, so he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.鈥
Not only did Bennet confirm Smith鈥檚 good spirits, but the hooker himself took to socials to address the event in a classy gesture taking blame away from Lodge, who was placed on report for the incident.
鈥淪o happy to be back. Wasn鈥檛 how I wanted it to go but back playing the game I love,鈥 Smith said on his Instagram story.
鈥淛ust want to make sure everyone understands Matt Lodge done (sic} nothing wrong it was an accident.
鈥淲e are friends and if you was you can see nothing was wrong so please leave him alone, this stuff happens all the time much love and thanks for all the nice messages.鈥
Smith has spent the better part of the past year on the sidelines recovering from an ACL injury suffered while with his former team the Roosters late in 2024.
Atop his rehab, Smith also had to deal with his heavily publicised early exit from the Roosters to cross town rivals South Sydney.
The 29-year-old will be pushing to return late in the season.
Meanwhile, opposition centre Tom Trbojevic marked 鈥楾ry July鈥 with a classy gesture of his own in a nod to recently passed Liverpool player Diogo Jota.
Jota and his brother Andr茅 Silva were found dead near the city of Zamora in Spain after their Lamborghini veered off the road and burst into flames.
The incident occurred just 10 days after Jota鈥檚 wedding.
While friends, family and teammates were mourning the football star at his funeral, Turbo sealed a try by holding up a 鈥榯wo鈥 and 鈥榸ero鈥 with his hands, a nod to Jota鈥檚 number 20 jersey with Liverpool.