‘They can’t force me’: Smith shuts down link with NRL rival, opens up on Roosters exit talk

Brandon Smith has dropped a blunt response to rumours linking him with the North Queensland Cowboys.

The 28-year-old is currently rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered in round 26 of the 2024 season with the Roosters.

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Coming off contract at the end of 2025, the New Zealander says he is focused on the upcoming campaign with the Bondi club.

Rumours of Smith heading to a number of NRL rivals have swirled in recent months, including a possible swap deal with the Cowboys for NSW hooker Reece Robson.

Smith, who spent two years with the Cowboys in the under-20 competition before advancing to the NRL, had a brutal response to the idea of a return to Townsville.

“There’s a few clubs we’ve spoken to and Cowboys wasn’t one of them,” Smith said on The Bye Round podcast.

“I don’t think that option’s really come up.

“(The Robson rumour) doesn’t really change anything for me at the moment.

“I still want to be at the Roosters, still want to be around Sydney, still want to be on The Bye Round podcast, don’t want to be in Townsville in this blistering heat.

“To be fair, they can’t force me to go there.”

After spending the first six years of his career with the Melbourne Storm, Smith joined the Roosters ahead of the 2023 season.

He has had his fair share of issues during his time with the Tricolours, caught up in a scandal over a social media video in May this year and copping a breach notice after missing a mid-season review.

Smith will miss the opening rounds of next year recovering from injury and insists he is focused solely on the Roosters, rather than his future elsewhere.

“If I feel like I’m not wanted, if my skills are not wanted for this year, then you’d think about (changing clubs),” Smith said.

“But with my mind at the moment, I don’t want to go into that realm and think about that stuff.

“Right now Roosters is my team, I’m trying to put that team first.”

Smith is hoping he can help the Roosters compete for a premiership in 2025.

But he also knows he will potentially be in the shop window of other clubs during the season and needs to perform.

“My goal for this year is not to re-sign with the Roosters,” he said of the upcoming campaign.

“My goal is to make sure I have the best year with the Roosters I can possibly have and make sure other clubs, if they are going to sign me, know what they’re going to get.

“I’m fully focused on the Roosters at the moment, whoever they’re trying to sign doesn’t really matter.

“I want to win a comp for the Roosters this year and I want to be a part of that.”