The thought of missing the remainder of the Storm’s finals campaign through injury brought cult hero Brandon

Smith to tears last weekend.

Smith was instrumental in the opening exchanges of Melbourne’s qualifying final win over Manly but left the field

after knocking heads with Sea Eagles forward Josh Aloiai.

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Told by medical staff in the changerooms that he had fractured his cheekbone, Smith “had a little cry” as his dream

of playing in consecutive grand final wins appeared in tatters.

“They kind of just told me it was broken. It wasn’t very good signs,” the Storm hooker told reporters on Sunday.

Smith managed to compose himself for the sake of his teammates.

“I couldn’t go out there after it and mope around and look sorry for myself because the team wouldn’t have wanted that,” he said.

“I had to try and stay as positive as I could for the team and try and have some impact on the boys even though I wasn’t on the field.

“It took a little while to get over it but at the end of the day, there’s bigger things in mind.”

Last Saturday, Smith took to social media to declare he had been cleared of serious injury. After that, it was business as usual again for one of the NRL’s most vibrant characters.

“I’ve always got plenty of energy and am trying to get the boys up,” Smith said.

“I think I just try to mentally prep the boys and get them ready by putting them in a good mindset.

“The other day, we had a super tough training session but every time they explained the drills, whether it was a really hard session, I’d just say, ‘I bloody love it’ and all the boys would get around it.

“I think it’s just keeping a positive mindset at training and making sure the boys aren’t moping around.

“That’s my role in the team.”

Smith said he was pleased to have been entrusted with leadership responsibilities this season.

“I’m really enjoying being a bit of a leader and I’ve got a bit of a bigger voice now,” he said.

“People actually listen to me, whereas a couple of years ago, they’d probably just tell me to shut up.”

Smith will be free to take the field for next weekend’s preliminary final against the Panthers, who defeated the Eels in a brutal semi final on Saturday night.

Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary missed his side’s last two meetings with Melbourne through injury, but will be back with bells on for the grand final qualifier.

Smith said his side was not concerned by the prospect of coming up against the reigning Dally M Halfback Of The Year for the first time since last year’s grand final.

“I don’t really think it matters whether it’s Cleary or (Eels halfback) Mitch Moses or anyone, we’re just going to go out there and pressure him,” he said.

“That’s what we’re trained to do, that’s what wins footy games.

“We’re going to pressure (Panthers five-eighth) Jarome Luai and Cleary. It doesn’t matter if they’re playing for the (wooden-spooners) Bulldogs, you don’t just change your standards for the better teams, you’ve got to play the way you play every week.

“We know what he’s about, anyway.”

With a smile, Smith added: “We’ve got to treat all players equally, except probably (Dally M Medal favourite) Tom Trbojevic.

There’s set to be “fireworks” in the Roosters and Sea Eagles’ finals clash, with enforcer Matt Lodge preparing to “upstage” his former teammates after an ugly departure.

Lodge, 29, left the Tricolours for Manly after the 2023 season despite reports surfacing he was set to sign a three-year deal to remain under Trent Robinson for the foreseeable future.

Following the news veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was playing for a further season, Lodge and Robinson’s relationship broke down before he was granted an early release.

The former Warriors and Broncos prop then landed in Brookvale, but will now be out for blood in a sudden-death finals clash according to Fox League’s James Hooper.

“100 per cent I think there will be fireworks, Matt Lodge, this will be really personal for him,” Hooper said on NRL360.

“When he left the Roosters, he didn’t leave on good terms at all. There was some texts exchanged… the truth is it wasn’t all hunky dory when it left.

“He left because of some texts exchanged with Trent Robinson, from that point he was told to go and train with North Sydney, ‘don’t report to Sydney headquarters again’.

‘There will be fireworks’: ‘Bad blood’ set to spill over as Lodge and Robbo reunion looms

Lodge’s grudge match against Roosters | 02:41

“You’re now with the North Sydney, NSW Cup side so that then paved the way for his transition for Manly, so Matt would love nothing more to upstage the Roosters.”

What’s more, is Waerea-Hargreaves returns from a four-game suspension after an ugly high shot on Dragons flyer Max Feagai.

The Kiwi international will be hellbent on inspiring the Roosters to victory, with his time in the NRL coming to an end ahead of a move to the Super League in 2025.

“Matt Lodge is a fiery player, he’s playing well at the moment and comes up against Jared Waerea-Hargreaves who has been suspended nearly all of this year,” Braith Anasta said.

“Comes back for this game and they are going toe-to-toe and there’s bad blood.”

Meanwhile, The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis was of the belief Lodge’s performance could have an impact on his own future.

Lodge is without a contract for the 2025 season, and AAP has previously reported Sea Eagles bosses are unlikely to table a deal longer than a single year.

Finals impact on Seibold’s future | 02:17

“He’s playing for a contract as well, that was his best performance as a Manly player last week. I thought it was his best performance for a while,” Carayannis said.

“Off-contract at the end of the season and there’s some uncertainty around where he will be next season.”

Lodge himself admitted he’s eyeing a longer-term contract, with his future in Brookvale being thrown into further doubt following the signing of Warriors forward Jazz Tevaga.

“Best-case scenario someone believes in me and does a couple-of-year deal,” Lodge said.

“It’s up in the air (where I end up) because I am not signed and the club (Manly) was talking about trying to make some room.

“(But) at the end of the day people have got to understand I have four kids and have to pay the bills.”