By David Craven
Brit abroad Morgan Smithies is loving life down under so much he’s already thinking about staying long-term.
The England loose forward, 23, has made an instant impact with Canberra since they forked out to buy him from Wigan ahead of this season. His tough-tackling, no-nonsense approach has quickly endeared him to Raiders fans. Plenty of English players head home early after trying NRL life, either after failing to settle or struggling for game-time.
But Yorkshireman Smithies sees himself being there long-term like Canberra captain Elliott Whitehead, who moved to Oz in 2016, and greats such as Sam Burgess and James Graham.
He said: “I’m loving it. I knew it’d take a few games to get into the swing of things. But I like the style of play here: it’s more like a grind, which is my type of game.
“I’m taking it a week at a time and just want to get that first season of NRL under my belt. But I’ve settled in really well and so has my partner. We’re both enjoying it. Canberra’s a good place to live. It’s about an hour and a half, two hours to the mountains and about the same to the beach so you’re in the middle of it. I love it.
"I’m chilled here and feel I can focus on my rugby. There’s not too much media coverage over here so I feel it’s perfect for someone like me who just wants to focus on playing week in week out and concentrate on rugby.
“I signed a three-year deal and, if we were to talk about extending, I’d be happy to. I’m not missing too much from home. I moved out [from Halifax] to Wigan when I was 16 so I’m used to it. I had two years left on my Wigan deal and there’s some stuff in there [contract] but I don’t think I’ll be coming back.”
Smithies, who debuted for England against France last June, made a record 55 tackles with no misses in Wigan’s Grand Final win over Catalans. He also set a Super League record aged 18, making an incredible 72 tackles in one match, and has carried that insatiable work-rate to the Australian capital. Starting in all five Canberra games so far, Smithies has racked up 185 tackles at a walloping 97.45 efficiency rate.
He featured as Raiders thrashed 41-8 on Sunday but has still felt the heat of famously combustible coach Ricky Stuart. Smithies admitted: “We didn’t play too well against Cronulla and, especially losing in Rappa’s [Jordan Rapana’s] 200th game, it was very disappointing.
“We copped a spray after that. To be fair, we definitely needed it. We knew we could play better than what we dished up. He’s a fair coach, Ricky. He’ll give you a spray if you need it. It worked because we bounced back this week.”
Smithies, the latest of a long line of Englishmen to play for Canberra after Whitehead, Josh Hodgson, John Bateman, George Williams, Ryan Sutton and Jordan Turner, faces stiff competition for the international No13 jersey from Sydney Roosters’ Victor Radley and St Helens’ Morgan Knowles.
He said: “There is a lot of competition isn’t there? But my main focus is playing well for Raiders and getting that first season under my belt. I wouldn’t say it’s different, because you want to play well week in week out in Super League.
"But here, with the competition being as good as it is, if you take your eye off the ball and start thinking about international stuff or the end of the season, you’re only one bad game away from being dropped. It doesn't take much. I just want to build some form and whatever comes with it does. I want to play for England - but it’s Raiders first."
