{"id":113392,"date":"2025-09-02T14:49:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/113392\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T14:49:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T14:49:13","slug":"brandon-smith-allegations-south-sydney-rabbitohs-v-sydney-roosters-preview-player-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/113392\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Smith allegations, South Sydney Rabbitohs v Sydney Roosters preview, player comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keaon Koloamatangi insists there is no fractured trust between South Sydney<\/a> players and Brandon Smith despite the drug and betting charges that have thrust him into the spotlight<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It comes before a huge round 27 game, with Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs attempting to play spoilers against their bitter rivals as the Roosters<\/a> attempt to seal their passage into the finals series. Against most other teams, Souths’ final game of the season might be a bit of a damp squib considering they have been out of finals contention for months after a nightmare injury toll derailed their season.<\/p>\n

However, a chance to finish on a high at the expense of an arch rival’s finals hopes is all the encouragement they need to be at their best on Friday night – a game that will double as Smith’s first time facing off against his former teammates.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Skipper lifts lid on ‘blame’ culture that held Raiders back<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Starc retires after glittering Australia T20 career<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Aussie downs American, crowned world champion<\/a><\/p>\n

Emotions around the game have been heightened by the prospect of Smith<\/a>‘s return after the Rabbitohs made the call to allow him to play, despite the heightened publicity around him.<\/p>\n

\"Brandon<\/p>\n

Brandon Smith of the Rabbitohs warms up.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old was front and centre for the cameras in his first field session back on Tuesday as he trained with the team’s bench players. He then joined the team in a promotional photoshoot with club sponsor MG.<\/p>\n

Souths players appeared in high spirits as the likes of Smith and captain Cameron Murray, who has been named in the 17 jersey to return from an Achilles injury, took to the field.<\/p>\n

While external noise has been focused on Smith’s off-field dramas, Koloamatangi claimed there had been no change in the New Zealand international’s demeanour.<\/p>\n

“He’s been normal,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I just had lunch with him. He’s fine, we’re still joking around. He’s exactly how he is.<\/p>\n

“We just can’t wait to play and I’m sure he can’t wait either against his old club.”<\/p>\n

Cody Walker echoed the forward’s comments and said Smith has continued to bring a “winning attitude” to training despite his off-field situation.<\/p>\n

“I think he has been quite normal throughout the whole process,” Walker said.<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“He has been wonderful since he has come to the club. He has performed quite well and has brought a winning attitude to the way he plays and trains.<\/p>\n

“Obviously he has some issues going on in the background which I won’t go into detail on, as it is before the courts and it is not my place to speak about publicly, but he is in a good head space. He has a court date and we will see how that process goes.<\/p>\n

“He don’t shut up,” Walker laughed.<\/p>\n

Koloamatangi then confirmed that no trust has been lost between the group.<\/p>\n

“No, he’s my teammate so I back him to the end,” he said.<\/p>\n

“He’s innocent until proven guilty. Until then, he’s my teammate and I can’t wait to play alongside him.”<\/p>\n

Aside from Smith’s situation, the Rabbitohs are prepared to end their season on a high and not get caught up in the hype that will follow them into their looming battle.<\/p>\n

“I think the excitement level just grows (when) you are playing against the Roosters,” said Walker.<\/p>\n

“You are walking through the street and everybody wants to talk about it. You don’t need any extra motivation against the Roosters, it is always there.<\/p>\n

“For us it is important that we continue to play the way we have and do what has been working for us, and not get caught up in the hype of the game.<\/p>\n

“It is a big week, you can’t hide from that. Finish on a high, that has been our goal over the last couple of weeks.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keaon Koloamatangi insists there is no fractured trust between South Sydney players and Brandon Smith despite the drug…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113393,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-113392","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}