Making a Bird of it: Smith shines in role of Yeo 2.0

Since Penrith’s Lindsay Smith earned his nickname for his resemblance to a NBA basketball legend, it seems only fitting he’s doing an excellent job ‘mimicking’ Panthers great Isaah Yeo. 

The 26-year-old has really come into his own in the No.13 jersey, temporarily vacated by the Panthers co-captain as he rehabilitates a pectoral strain. 

Normally a mobile front-rower, Smith is embracing the subtleties of prop to lock. 

“I feel like the more I get to play there, you get a little more confident and start to feel a little more at home there,” Smith told NRL.com after having a hand in two of Penrith’s three tries in the 24-10 win over the Bulldogs.

“Obviously we’d love to have Yoey there as he’s such an amazing player. But I’m just happy to do my part.

“I guess I’m not necessarily your typical prop, when I do play front row. I’m not as powerful or as strong as other guys so I try to use my footy a bit more. 

“When you’re playing 13 you’ve got a little more shape around you and you’ve got your hands on the footy more. 

“So it does open up a few a little things for me. So it’s not too dissimilar to prop.”

He is also enjoying the combination with playmaking maestro Nathan Cleary as he normally takes the first pass off his No.7 in set plays. 

“It’s been something we’ve been working on at training, just making sure we’re getting that connection,” Smith said of his relationship with Cleary. 

The nickname ‘Larry’ has its roots back in the Covid-affected days of 2020. 

“We had a basketball hoop at training and obviously I wasn’t playing (his NRL debut was 2021) so I was shooting a lot, mucking around,” Smith said. 

“It was actually Tyrone May who called me ‘Larry Bird’ one day and it just stuck. It definitely wasn’t my basketball ability.” 

Bird, a the three-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, is also tall and blond, a Hall of Famer, 12-time All Star, and considered one of the players alongside Michael Jordan to change the face of American basketball.  

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary might not go that far in describing Smith’s impact, but he’s full of praise for Smith deputising for Yeo. 

“He’s playing really well... I think he’s really grown his game. He’s got good awareness of what he’s good at and how he can help the team,” Cleary said. 

“The whole lock thing has kind of progressed over the years when Yeoey has been in Origin – it’s taken him a while to find his feet there but he’s definitely done that. 

“He’s been huge for us lately.” 

Smith might find himself adding to his tally of six games out of 22 this year at No.13 as Yeo’s return to the team is still uncertain. 

“He’s a question mark still but he’s ticking a lot of boxes,” Cleary said of Yeo.

As far as Smith is concerned he’s looking forward to Wests Tigers at CommBank Stadium to wind up the Panthers' regular season. 

“I feel like we’ve had a few games on the trot already, like the Warriors a couple of weeks ago, the Roosters and now the Bulldogs, that have that semi-final standard already," he said.

“They’ve all been up for the grind and have had that finals-footy about them. 

“So it’s been good to take our lessons from these weeks.”