And the Ashford export wants the public to know that the unflattering portrait the media sometimes paints of his Storm captain is at odds with the man he knows.

There is widespread speculation that Sunday's grand final against the Panthers at ANZ Stadium in Sydney could be Smith's last match.

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The potential curtain call for one of the all-time greatest rugby league careers has resulted in conversations about his legacy.

News Corp journalist Paul Kent said there was lingering resentment towards Smith over him campaigning to try and get the two premierships the Storm forfeited for salary cap breaches returned to the club.

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While Fox Sports' chief NRL writer James Hooper said the former Kangaroos and Maroons captain, who has played a record 429 NRL games, was an "immensely polarising figure" who was on "a never-ending John Farnham farewell tour".

However, Lewis - who made his long-awaited NRL debut this year and is part of the Storm's grand final build up but is not in the side - believes that Smith "gets a bit of a bad rap".

"He gets good press as well," Lewis said. "But I've seen some stuff, like he does all these wrestle tactics and is cold-hearted and all these sort of things.

"I don't think he deserves any of that; he's honestly just a normal sort of bloke most of the time, and he's very eager to help anyone at the club.

"I was asking him tips on certain things ... This was before I had even played a game. He was happy to spend time after training and help me out."

Lewis - the oldest Storm player, at 27, to make his NRL debut - sat on the bench in the Storms' 36-24 qualifying final defeat of the Eels but was not used.

The 28-year-old was then part of the Storm's warm-up ahead of their 30-10 preliminary final defeat of Canberra last Friday, but was not included in the side.

He is part of the Storms' grand final preparation, helping to "imitate" the Panthers in training drills, and he will be at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

"I'm not really disappointed," he said of not making the grand final side, adding: "It's a very good football team."

He is "just happy" to be "close" to the side.

Lewis recently signed a two-year deal with Melbourne after the club handed him a lifeline 12-month development deal this year. He had twice been signed by the Dragons, including straight out of high school, but suffered a series of serious injuries.

Last year he played for the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Intrust Super Cup and worked as a history teacher at Caloundra High.

Playing for the Storm, he said, was "a lot better than teaching".

His parents, Mick and Pauleen, live on a farm at Ashford.