Storm hooker apologises to referee after verbal spray
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Storm hooker Brandon Smith personally sought out NRL referee Adam Gee post-match and apologised for comments made towards the match official in Thursday night’s 28-6 loss to the Sharks.
Smith was sent to the sin-bin while Melbourne were in possession of the ball in the 59th minute for verbal dissent towards Gee as the Storm trailed 20-0 midway through the second half.
“It was me just getting frustrated, I lost my temper and it’s very disappointing on my behalf,” Smith told reporters after the game.
“I’ll let someone else tell you what I said. I let not only myself but all my teammates down, that’s not good enough on my behalf.
“I went in and apologised to him afterwards. I just lost my cool at the time and have got to be better than that.
“I’ll try and maintain my distance from [Craig Bellamy] for a while but he’ll be disappointed in me.
"I let the team down and he’s all about a team-first mentality and I didn’t display that tonight.
“[Adam Gee] was all good, he just said he couldn’t cop that and I just said sorry for taking the frustrations out on you. I was annoyed at my own performance and it’s not good enough.”
Match Highlights: Sharks v Storm
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said the incident wasn't good enough particularly in a moment where the side were in possession of the ball.
“I don’t really know what happened there or what was said, it was probably going to be one of our best sets and all of a sudden I thought we were getting a penalty," Bellamy said.
“We don’t want our players showing disrespect to the referees. I don’t know why he would say something [if we have the ball]."
The moment capped a disappointing evening for the Storm, who suffered their second consecutive loss on the road and picked up two injuries with Kenny Bromwich (leg) and Grant Anderson (arm) failing to finish the game.
"It's similiar to last week, we just didn't defend good enough inside our 20 metres," Smith said.
"The Sharks are a good defensive side and pretty hard to score against, that showed tonight. Not good enough from everyone."
