There has been a delightful added bonus attached to Roosters centre Anthony “Bluey” Smith’s return to first grade this year, and it is something he never thought would happen.
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When North Tamworth left the Roosters waiting in the middle of Kootingal Recreation Ground before kick-off in the major preliminary final last Sunday, what it also delayed was Smith’s match-up against his younger half-brother, Bears centre Richard Clegg.
For only the second time in their lives, the strapping siblings – separated in age by four years and raised by a single mother, Sue Smith – were about to go head to head on a footy field.
The first time was in round two at Kooty in May, when the Roosters won 30-20. This time, however, the Bears won 24-16, to book their eighth consecutive grand final spot as they gun for five straight premierships.
Clegg, 28, played in the previous seven grand finals. And while he was carving out a reputation as one of Group 4’s premier players, his 32-year-old older brother was carving up defences for Kooty in Second Division, after previously playing first grade in Ipswich.
Smith’s return to first grade followed the demise of Second Division at the end of last season.
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The brothers would clash for the third time if the Roosters beat Gunnedah in the preliminary final at Kooty on Saturday afternoon.
“I never played with him or against him [previously],” Smith said. “That was one of the good things about going up to first grade, getting to play against him.”
“I think he had the wood on me [last weekend],” Smith added.
As with his Roosters teammates from the Second Division days, Ryan Martin and Jordan Sharpe, Smith has not looked out of place in superior company. He said he had knocked back offers to play first grade in Tamworth over the years, content with the league-social mix of Second Division.
And as with his match-ups against his younger brother, he thought his premier-grade days had passed.
“I’m 32 now, I’m getting on a bit, but I never had any doubts about being able to play first grade,” he said, adding that he “didn’t have much of a choice” in terms of his playing options when Kooty got promoted.
He’s been a Rooster for nine seasons, he still enjoys his footy and he wasn’t going anywhere else.
“Born and bred,” he said of his Kootingal roots.
