Brandon Smith celebrates with Kiwis fans after the team's win over Australia at Mt Smart Stadium. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
New Zealand rugby league international Brandon Smith's troubled time at the Sydney Roosters is to finish at season's end.
A long rumoured deal with South Sydney's been confirmed, with the versatile forward to join the club for the 2026 and 2027 seasons.
Souths recruitment manager Mark Ellison expects him to make an instant impact next year.
"Brandon has a wonderful record of success in the NRL and at international level, having a 70% success rate across his career," he said.
"He improves the players around him and gives 100% every time he steps on the field and is a great character off the field.
Smith, who can play lock and hooker, has 148 NRL appearances in his career, 41 of them for the Roosters, where he's struggled to match the output he achieved at his first club, the Melbourne Storm.
Photo: Andrew Cornaga / www.photosport.nz
But Souths are confident they can turn Smith's career around.
"[Coach] Wayne [Bennett] has a high opinion of Brandon and they will have the opportunity to work together here at South Sydney," Ellison said.
"As a young man in New Zealand, he wore the red and green jersey of the Waiheke Rams and now he will have the chance to earn the right to wear the red and green jersey of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
"We're delighted to have signed an international-calibre player with a history of premiership success such as Brandon and we wish him the best of luck for the remainder of his time at his current club."
Smith, who's played 13 tests for the Kiwis, has not played since he suffered a serious knee injury last September and is not expected to return to the field until late in the 2025 season.
