Melbourne larrikin Brandon Smith found himself in the thick of controversy during a bizarre moment at Shark Park on Thursday night.
The Storm utility forward ran the ball and was tackled by Cronulla’s Aiden Tolman, then got up and appeared to yell something in the direction of referee Adam Gee.
Gee immediately blew his whistle to stop play, and sent Smith to the sin-bin.
AS IT HAPPENED: Sharks trounce Storm in stunning victory
READ MORE: Kyrgios’ raw admission after reaching Wimbledon semis
READ MORE: Nadal sparks withdrawal fears ahead of Kyrgios clash
READ MORE: ‘Emotional’ NSW rookie ruled out of Origin
“I’m not even going to repeat what he said,” Gee said.
Smith later spoke to Nine and shed some light on the incident.
Fifita binned for throwing Smith
“My mouth, it always gets me in trouble,” he said.
“I said something to the ref that probably shouldn’t be said. I got sent off, and rightly so, you’re not allowed to do that stuff.”
Smith copped his medicine and headed for the sideline to serve his 10 minutes in the naughty corner.
But as he left the field, the lively Shire crowd taunted him. Initially, Smith gave the raucous fans a thumbs up, and seemed happy to brush it off.
Stream the NRL premiership 2022 live and free on 9Now
But one comment seemed to rile him, and he turned and tried to remonstrate with the person who fired it in his direction.
“What’d you say, bra?” Smith fired upwards from the tunnel, as he was held back by a Storm staffer and a security guard.
He then turned back around and disappeared into the tunnel.
“Well, this is quite a moment,” Nine commentator Mat Thompson said.
Phi Gould commented, “how bizarre”.
The match review committee will release its charge sheet on Friday morning, when Smith will learn if he has been charged for his comment.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
