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.
โI 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,โ Smith said.
Then Smith crashed his own e-bike 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.
โItโs funny how life turns out sometimes,โ Smith said. โIt was a good life lesson.โ
Roosters prop Lindsay Collins predicted as much at the time.
โHeโll get his lesson โ weโll all get our lesson from it,โ Collins said. โThe 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.โ
The lack of parking at the Roostersโ 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.
One of the first things that Smith thought about after his crash was how Roosters coach Trent Robinson and chairman Nick Politis would react.
โOf course you jump to those conclusions,โ Smith said on Monday, when asked about Robinson and Politis.
โI 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.โ
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.
โThe 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,โ Smith said. โIt was three steps forward, four steps back. I took a couple of weeks to focus on the knee and trained away from the team.
โFooty is footy, youโll never be at 100 per cent, but itโs about getting yourself in a position where you can perform at a high level. Thatโs my goal at the minute.โ
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.
He will remain on the wing until Daniel Tupou returns from a calf injury, which is likely to be the Roostersโ next home game against Cronulla in round 16, which will double as the club legendโs 300th NRL game.
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.
โWe have such a strong squad and strong roster, if you miss games of footy, and someone plays well in your spot, itโs [your position is] up for grabs,โ Smith said.
โItโs been cool to see โFluffโ [Savala] do his thing. Iโve even taken a few things away from watching him play. But Iโm a centre, I know thatโs where I want to play. Heโs a half, heโs silky, and heโs brought that silkiness to the centre position.โ
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 โline-in-the-sand momentโ.
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 Roostersโ system.
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