RUGBY league legend Cameron Smith has been keeping an eye on his former club the Melbourne Storm across the pre-season.<\/p>\n
While a raft of the club\u2019s stars impressed, notably Cameron Munster, Smith\u2019s eyes were instead drawn to an untried first-grade player in Tyran Wishart who played the same position as Smith in hooker.<\/p>\n
Although Wishart is yet to make his NRL debut, Smith believes he can have a big impact in 2022 after watching his performance on Sunday against Newcastle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a lot of strong performances through the trial period,\u201d Smith said on SEN 1170 The Captain\u2019s Run<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI was actually impressed with young Wishart at the Storm, his performance in the last trial match down in Victoria was eye-catching.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re looking for someone to play in the nine jersey, Brandon Smith has found a loophole so he\u2019ll be available for round one, but they\u2019ll need someone to come off the bench and Wishart may have put his nose in front of everyone else.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite a new role for him, clearly, he\u2019s worked really hard at that craft over the pre-season.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s co-host, former Bronco Denan Kemp, was equally taken, particularly as Wishart didn\u2019t arrive at the club as a dummy-half.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really impressed with him, I thought, wow, they\u2019ve done it again, they\u2019ve found another great number nine,\u201d Kemp said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen at the end of the game, I think it was Cam Munster who said, \u2018He actually hasn\u2019t played nine, he\u2019s a half\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Wishart joined the Storm midway through last season after his career stalled with the Dragons and Kemp highlighted Melbourne\u2019s ability to pick up quality players that have been discarded elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cAlso, block your ears Dragons fans, but he was actually not re-signed by the Dragons and the Storm came in and swooped him up,\u201d Kemp said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very interesting to see how the Storm system can develop players in new positions.\u201d<\/p>\n Wishart will hope to earn a spot in the Storm\u2019s 17 when the club kicks off its 2022 campaign with a round one clash against the Wests Tigers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n