How Brandon Smith plans to redeem himself at the Roosters after hooker received a breach notice for missing team meeting – ‘started to think I was going to get sacked’

Brandon Smith has revealed how he plans to win back the respect of his Roosters teammates and NRL coach Trent Robinson after the hooker received a breach notice for missing a recent team meeting.

Smith, 28, also confirmed he battled a few mental demons as he dealt with the fallout following the shock 18-16 defeat against the Cowboys at Allianz Stadium on June 2.

‘It [breach] put me on notice,’ Smith told The Bye Round Podcast with James Graham.

‘I feel like I let people down and I don’t like to let people down.

‘It has definitely made me focus on what is really important. Obviously I got breached for missing the meeting.

It remains to be seen if Roosters coach Trent Robinson will name Smith to take on the Eels in round 15 NRL action

‘It was dumb of me first of all. I went out for a coffee with my missus…..and she doesn’t like it when I take my phone out because I ignore her.

‘So I left my phone at home. The reason it is my fault is because [as a player] you check the schedule before you go to sleep.

‘I missed the meeting — that was the problem.’

The Kiwi international also told Graham he feared the Tricolours would sack him.

‘It was a pretty epic couple of days. Thankfully it was all good,’ he said.

‘The boys were funny, making fun of me.’

Smith’s candid insight comes as teammate Luke Keary said missing a team meeting is ‘not good enough’.

‘It is pretty black and white,’ he said. ‘But these things do happen sometimes.

‘People sleep in or something happens. It wasn’t good enough. We have dealt with it internally, which is how we want to keep it.

‘There are some standards here that have been around this joint for a long time. A lot of those older boys have put those standards in. We all adhere to them. 

‘Brandon is no different. When you don’t adhere to them, you get punished.’