Smith: 'Disappointed' Storm wouldn't block star's exit

Melbourne legend Cameron Smith believes his club wouldn’t block Jahrome Hughes’ exit if he wanted to move interstate for family reasons.

The suggestion was first floated by Queensland great Corey Parker on radio this week.

Parker heard “rumblings” that the halfback and his wife were keen to move back to southern Queensland to be closer to family.

Hughes, 29, played for the Titans and Cowboys before heading south to join the Storm in 2017, where he has now cemented himself as one of the NRL’s premier playmakers.

While Smith is confident the Kiwi international will remain in the Victorian capital, he can empathise with the desire to be closer to home.

Cameron Smith has weighed in on the Jahrome Hughes rumour.

“I completely understand the thinking of wanting to be closer to family as far as wanting to start their own family and being around support, because I lived down there (in Melbourne) for 20 years when I started my own family and it’s difficult, it’s challenging,” Smith told SEN radio on Wednesday.

“I ran into him the other night… he seems pretty settled. I know his wife as well, caught up with them at the start of the year actually and they seemed really happy.

“I understand the want to come back home, we’ll watch this space.”

Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.

Following Parker’s revelations on Monday, Melbourne immediately moved to quash the speculation.

The Storm are trying to extend Hughes’ contract – which expires at the end of 2026 and is worth about $800,000 a year – by a further two seasons.

While the club wants to keep him, Smith is confident the Storm wouldn’t deprive the player of being closer to family.

Jahrome Hughes of the Storm celebrates scoring a try.

The club’s last long-term champion halfback – Cooper Cronk – left Melbourne in 2017 in order to start a life in Sydney with his wife Tara.

“They’d be disappointed, there’s no doubt about that because he’s an extremely important part of that football club and he’s a wonderful club person and (his wife) is heavily involved in the footy club as well,” Smith said.

“They’re a club that has never stood in the way of guys wanting to make decisions for personal reasons.

“If he went there with a legitimate reason to get back home, I don’t think they’re going to stand in his way.”

After starting life at the Storm as a utility and fill-in fullback, Hughes was handed the No.7 jumper full-time in 2020 and led the club to the premiership.

He has played 131 NRL games for the club to date.