Smith is not as flashy as some other players that fans love to watch but he is so methodical the way he picks teams apart and really sharp with his passes. And he can change momentum with his kicking game.
I got to know Smithy quite well when I was in Melbourne and his family really welcomed us into the club.
He's going to reach 400 NRL games this year – which is incredible – and he is really durable.
But the most important thing is that he loves footy; he enjoys playing and so it is not a chore for him to keep young and fresh.
He does push the limits though – and gets away with quite a lot - but all the good players do.
That's part of the game, to test the boundaries, it's about winning and it is about results.
Plenty of people do it; I do it as well as I can without wanting to get caught.
Probably there is an increased perception with him, because he's been captain of so many teams and seen talking to the referees a lot, though generally he knows what he is talking about.
But our leader is also a great player and a special individual.
Cameron Smith of the Storm. Photo / Getty
For me, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck is the best running fullback in the game, no one can return the ball like he can, but he has added so much to his game over the last few years.
He's one of the most professional footy players I have ever worked with; he's always critiquing his game, trying to better himself, add different skill sets, studying his performances.
We've had some really good sessions this week, especially working with our attack.
No one goes out there to not execute well but it ended up hurting us against the Broncos two weeks ago.
When you play Melbourne there aren't many surprises – you know what you are going to get.
They are going to be on, going to turn up, going to run hard, wrestle well and defend well.
They are not going to come out of their system or do anything structurally different to what you have already seen.
The challenge is to stay disciplined enough to keep wearing them down, and keep making them make tackles and make decisions, and then they make some bad ones under fatigue.
Last time we did a really good job of staying in the game and today we have to play aggressive and play strong.
We had a close encounter against them on Anzac Day but we won't be able to take them by surprise this time.
They will be well aware of what is coming and we need to make sure we are ready for them.
