The fitness of Brandon Smith has been called into question, with the star Roosters recruit set to make his club debut at hooker in Round 1.
The Kiwi star moved to the Tricolours on a lucrative deal after a successful stint with the Storm, bringing a wealth of big-game experience and X-factor to the side.
Smith had been forced to split the dummy-half duties with Harry Grant and Tyran Wishart in 2022, which led to his exit from Melbourne in a bid to earn a starting No.9 role at a rival club.
Sam Verrills was moved on by the Roosters at the end of last year and opened the door for Smith to assume the hooker spot, but there are fears the New Zealand international may struggle to play big minutes.
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Speaking on NRL 360 on Wednesday night, former club captain Braith Anasta raised alarm bells over the team selection for the Roosters, with the club opting not to carry specialist hooker Jake Turpin on the bench.
“Brandon Smith can he play 80 minutes for the Roosters? He has once [in his career]," he said.
"They haven’t gone with Jake Turpin on the bench, they have gone with Drew Hutchison. I believe that is to cover a number of positions, but it is going to be interesting to see how Brandon is used and whether they continue to use him how they do in this first round.
"Brandon Smith plays himself into exhaustion really...that’s the way that he plays. Everything is 100 miles an hour and we saw that in the World Cup - there was a missed tackle...look how tired he was and this was a big play.
“This is probably a concern for the Roosters making sure that he is fresh when he is on the field and making the right decisions that he can make these tackles.
“That’s probably why they have covered him and they won’t play him for 80 minutes for the majority of the year.”
Smith is a unique player given his body shape, speed, power and ability to play eyes-up footy, making him on the best attacking threats in the middle of the field across the entire competition.
The injury bug that has hit the Roosters prior to their clash with the Dolphins on Sunday afternoon could also be factoring into the decision-making from Trent Robinson, with the likes of Joseph Manu and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves sidelined.
“I think with Manu out too and the lack of depth in the outside backs, Hutchison can cover that if they need him to and the halves,” Anasta said.
“Where as if Manu is in then maybe Turpin does start there in the No.14 because they don’t need to worry about their backs so much if there is an injury out wide.”
