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Brandon Smith has denied rumours he has already agreed a contract with the Parramatta Eels for 2026 and beyond after online speculation swirled that it was all but a done deal.
The link between Jason Ryles’ side and the currently injured Smith was initially established by a fan-run page on social media and quickly spread across various pages but the Kiwi international denied the speculation when speaking on The Bye Round Podcast, which he hosts alongside former Dragons and Bulldogs enforcer James Graham, on Thursday.
“This Parramatta rumour went around for all of my family members, every one of my mates rang,” Smith said.
“I have not spoken to them at all. I don’t even know if my manager has.
“I haven’t had any negotiations but there’s definitely talks going. I would call them negotiations, but there’s definitely talks happening behind the scenes but not involving me. Probably May. Yeah, April, May, I’d like to have it properly sorted.
“We will see what happens, you never know who might come, you know. Tom Brady might want me at the NFL.”
Smith, who is currently nursing an ACL injury that will see him miss the start of 2025 in Bondi, is out of contract with the Sydney Roosters at the end of the campaign and has been told by coach Trent Robinson his services will not be required beyond that.
The club has already announced NSW representative hooker Reece Robson will leave North Queensland to join the Tricolours on a four-year deal beginning in 2026.
“It’s funny you can draw those links because it’s pretty easy,” Graham said.
“You go, he worked with Ryles, you could make a case that Parramatta need a number nine. It’s like, ‘Oh, that’s where he’ll go’.”
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