{"id":472879,"date":"2025-09-29T22:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T22:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=472879"},"modified":"2025-09-30T00:36:38","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T00:36:38","slug":"surprised-smith-says-bellamy-wont-like-stars-comment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=472879","title":{"rendered":"'Surprised' Smith says Bellamy won't like star's comment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melbourne<\/a> legend Cameron Smith<\/a> says he was "surprised" by Stefano Utoikamanu's unprompted jab for Brisbane<\/a> players on Monday.<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu lit the fuse for NRL grand final week by labelling several Broncos players "stuck up" and declaring he wants to "run over them" in Sydney on Sunday.<\/p>\n

The comments were later put to Broncos players who spoke to media in Brisbane.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Bailey Smith called a 'loser' over 'homophobic' post<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Hard to stomach' error leaves Fox off podium at worlds<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Seven Broncos caught in grand final 'puzzle'<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

"\ufeffWe're stuck up?" Payne Haas laughed.<\/p>\n

"I'm not too sure, they are not in our four walls so they can say what they like."<\/p>\n

Reece Walsh labelled it "mind games".\ufeff<\/p>\n

Speaking to Nine's Today<\/em> on Tuesday, club icon Smith admitted it was unusual for a Storm player to speak so publicly about opposition.\ufeff<\/p>\n

"\ufeffHe's lit the fuse hasn't he, for an intriguing start to the match," Smith told Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Storm<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI can't wait for the first kick off, particularly if the Broncos kick off to the big man, he is going to be coming off the back fence.<\/p>\n

"I was a bit surprised because it's \ufeffvery unlike a Storm player, or a player coached by Craig Bellamy. They tend to like to fly under the radar for a big game like this.<\/p>\n

"(Bellamy) has probably had a \ufeffquiet word to Stefano about his comments.<\/p>\n

"But it's been said. What Stefano has to do now is \ufeffback it up with his actions, I think that will be the message from Craig Bellamy… 'you can't let the team down'.<\/p>\n

"He will be ready to go. I think he's going to have a big game."\ufeff<\/p>\n

Utoikamanu joined the club at the start of the season following four years at the Wests Tigers, where he collected three wooden spoons.<\/p>\n

With a premiership title now in his sights, the 25-year-old was not afraid to \ufefffire the first warning shots at the Broncos.<\/p>\n

\"Staggs<\/p>\n

\ufeff"I'm keen to go out there and run someone over," Utoikamanu said on Monday.<\/p>\n

"There are going to be a lot of people I want to run at, a lot of people I don't like on this team."<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and<\/strong><\/em> 9Now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Utoikamanu did not hesitate to elaborate further on his dislike for his rivals as he turned his attention to his desired plan to target "stuck up" Broncos players. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"I don't want to name names, there a lot of people I think are a bit stuck up," he said.<\/p>\n

"I'm pretty keen just to run out and do a job for our team."\ufeff<\/p>\n

He then called for his teammates to line him up to take the first run of the match. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"That's another strength of my game – running off the kick [off]," he said.<\/p>\n

"I'm going to make sure I set up this week to get that first kick of the game.<\/p>\n

"This week is just about us and our preparation," Utoikamanu continued. \ufeff<\/p>\n

"If we prepare the best we can and everyone brings their strengths to the game, then we can win the game."<\/p>\n

\"Walsh's<\/p>\n

Melbourne hold a better win-loss record against the Broncos, with the club only losing 16 of their 59 matches against the Queensland-based side.<\/p>\n

However, the last time the two teams met, the Broncos did come out on top 30-14.<\/p>\n

Haas will be one of the many powerful forces that the Broncos will look to unleash on Sunday, but Utoikamanu is not afraid to face his NSW teammate.<\/p>\n

"I'm looking forward to that challenge, he's one of the best props in the game, if not the best," he said.<\/p>\n

"You've seen his performance on Sunday<\/a>. He played in the middle, played 80 minutes, and did just about everything to help that team win.<\/p>\n

"I'm just looking at what I can do to stop him a little bit and how I can use my game to tire him out a little bit.<\/p>\n

"I'm looking forward to that challenge … I think we can get the win here."\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne legend Cameron Smith says he was "surprised" by Stefano Utoikamanu's unprompted jab for Brisbane players on Monday. Utoikamanu lit the fuse for NRL grand […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":472881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472879"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=472879"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":472882,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472879\/revisions\/472882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/472881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=472879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=472879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=472879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}