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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Sydney Roosters centre Billy Smith used to shake his head at the young teenagers racing around the streets of his local neighbourhood on e-bikes.<\/p>\n \u201cI live down at Bronte Beach, I see the 12-year-old and 13-year-olds fly past me, and I always judged them for going too fast and being reckless,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n Then Smith crashed his own e-bike<\/a> when riding too fast around the Moore Park precinct, suffered a concussion and missed a couple of NRL games. The high-speed prang at the start of the season prompted angry Roosters officials to order all their players to start wearing helmets and cut out any skylarking.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny how life turns out sometimes,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt was a good life lesson.\u201d<\/p>\n Roosters prop Lindsay Collins predicted as much at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll get his lesson \u2013 we\u2019ll all get our lesson from it,\u201d Collins said. \u201cThe little kid comes out inside you, and you can muck around a bit on it. But you need to realise these things are actually dangerous, and you need to be sensible on them.\u201d<\/p>\n The lack of parking at the Roosters\u2019 training precinct means most of the players rely on e-bikes and electric scooters to commute. Smith has opted for extra precautions and uses a heavy-duty helmet since his prang.<\/p>\n One of the first things that Smith thought about after his crash was how Roosters coach Trent Robinson and chairman Nick Politis would react.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course you jump to those conclusions,\u201d Smith said on Monday, when asked about Robinson and Politis.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pretty banged up. I was just worried about my health and safety. It was a good lesson for me. I literally came off the bike and hit my head on the floor. It was a concussion, plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n When Smith returned for the Roosters in round four, he reinjured his knee, had to have some cartilage removed and spent more time on the sidelines. He played just his third game of the season against Melbourne on the weekend<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe knee took a little longer [to recover] than I had hoped, and every time I was close to getting back, the knee would swell up,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt was three steps forward, four steps back. I took a couple of weeks to focus on the knee and trained away from the team.<\/p>\n \u201cFooty is footy, you\u2019ll never be at 100 per cent, but it\u2019s about getting yourself in a position where you can perform at a high level. That\u2019s my goal at the minute.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith was solid on the left wing against the Storm, and is expected to start there when the Roosters play the Raiders in Canberra on Friday.<\/p>\n He will remain on the wing until Daniel Tupou returns from a calf injury, which is likely to be the Roosters\u2019 next home game against Cronulla in round 16, which will double as the club legend\u2019s 300th NRL game.<\/p>\n Smith prefers to play centre, but knows he will need to bide his time, with Hugo Savala making the most of his own positional switch from the halves.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have such a strong squad and strong roster, if you miss games of footy, and someone plays well in your spot, it\u2019s [your position is] up for grabs,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cIt\u2019s been cool to see \u2018Fluff\u2019 [Savala] do his thing. I\u2019ve even taken a few things away from watching him play. But I\u2019m a centre, I know that\u2019s where I want to play. He\u2019s a half, he\u2019s silky, and he\u2019s brought that silkiness to the centre position.\u201d<\/p>\n TV cameras captured Robinson laying down the law to the players after their heavy loss to the Storm, and Smith said it was almost a \u201cline-in-the-sand moment\u201d.<\/p>\n The Roosters have one of the best rosters in the NRL, but they have lacked consistency, and struggled to stay in every contest for 80 minutes. They now meet the Raiders and an in-form Ethan Strange, who spent time in the Roosters\u2019 system.<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Billy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/43dbe9d1b28dd01ad5008bd2c0aed5e82fb6e63abab571547381f5aedef3362f.jpeg\")
Billy Smith returned against Melbourne on Saturday night for just his third game of the season.NRL Photos<\/p>\n![\"Easy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1b08a1d00f346813cec286dcdaedd4f24c1f846a.jpeg\")
Easy rider: Billy Smith has since opted for extra precaution with a helmet and goggles.<\/p>\n![\"Billy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/95a5aa64ccb2afb4abd3094e001ad5843640136f3081e0bd8630b1b8e925bae6.jpeg\")
Billy Smith pictured just days before his e-bike crash in the lead-up to the round-two clash against Souths.Instagram<\/p>\n![\"Roosters](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b2e88ebd03f612536375f4c075eafe3f83cda55603a245bfb930a18b0801cd38.gif\")
Roosters halfback Daly Cherry-Evans cruises along Driver Avenue on an e-bike before Christmas.Sydney Morning Herald<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780310056_897_d03678f26c306f87f0f30dc56cdeb59aba58e8bd.jpeg\")
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