On November 1st, Brandon Smith was officially free to negotiate with rival clubs, after the Melbourne Storm put out a statement before the 2021 NRL season confirming their hooker would not be re-signing with the club, as at the time it seemed they would be starting Harry Grant over the New Zealand International.

Melbourne’s General Manager Frank Ponissi made the following statement in December last year via the club’s official website.

“Brandon is a wonderful player and great person to have around the club,” said Ponissi.

“Given he is now a premiership player, national representative and has been a valuable asset to our team over the last few years, any move will only be considered with appropriate arrangements put in place.

“The club has shown we are comfortable with negotiating these requests while also maintaining our performance on the field, given we were in the same position with Josh Addo-Carr only 12 months ago.

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“We look forward to having Brandon back on the track on January 4 along with his teammates as they prepare for the 2021 season.”

Smith is now officially fielding offers from rival clubs, with one in particular favoured to land his signature, as The Daily Telegraph’s Michael Carayannis is reporting that the Gold Coast Titans have offered the 25-year-old a $1 million contract.

“Brandon Smith, I think he was probably the most in-demand player from November 1,” Carayannis said on SEN1170.

“He has already been tabled a $1 million deal from the Gold Coast Titans, and the New Zealand Warriors is another club that’s on the lookout as well.

“No big movement yet, but I think by the end of this week or early next week a few of the big dominoes will fall.”

Mitch Rein has recently departed the Gold Coast for Parramatta, leaving a gap at hooker that the Titans would love Brandon Smith to fill, which would be fitting as the club was heavily linked to his predecessor and former Australian captain Cameron Smith before the future Immortal announced his retirement on the eve of the 2021 NRL season.

The Titans have promising backs and an all star forward pack already, so the addition of an International hooker could turn them into genuine top four contenders for years to come.