Brandon Smith Facing NRL Ban After Calling Referee A 'Cheat' In Meltdown

Melbourne Storm star Brandon Smith found himself in hot water last night after being sin binned for a comment to referee Adam Gee and is now facing a ban from the NRL.

It was a bizarre moment in Melbourne’s 28-6 loss to Cronulla, with the Storm hooker running the ball before being tackled, jumping up, and yelling something in the direction of the referee.

Gee immediately blew his whistle and sent Smith to the bin, with the Melbourne player being referred straight to the judiciary on a contrary conduct charge. 

Smith seemingly had no complaints and no wonder why, as it has now been revealed by Foxsports.com.au that Smith allegedly called Adam Gee a ‘cheat’ in his explosive outburst.

Following the game Gee refused to comment on the incident, saying: “I’m not even going to repeat what he said.”

Smith later spoke to Nine and admitted that the whistleblower was right to send him off the field.

"My mouth, it always gets me in trouble," he said.

"I said something to the ref that probably shouldn't be said. I got sent off, and rightly so, you're not allowed to do that stuff."

Smith reportedly found Gee to issue him an apology. 

That incident wasn’t the end of it for the clearly fired up Smith as Sharks fans gave him plenty of stick as he ran off to the sheds - with one comment clearly getting him agitated.

He waved to the crowd as he ran off, but turned back to ask a supporter: “What did you say bro?”

Clearly unhappy, but he was ushered into the tunnel by a security guard and Storm staff member before it could go any further. 

Speaking to ABC Radio after the game, Smith said: “There were a few nasty words said, I didn’t like it at all. Normally people are nice to me!”

Storm coach Craig Bellamy was not pleased at all with Smith’s antics and called out the player’s actions for impacting his team.

At the post-match press conference, he said: “I don’t know what happened there. That looked like it was going to be one of our best sets, we had a bit of line speed. Then all of a sudden I thought we were getting a penalty, but he ended up in the bin,” Bellamy said.

“I don’t know what he said. We don’t want our players showing that sort of disrespect for the referees. I can only say it won’t happen again.

“I don’t know why he would say something then. The referee obviously did it for a reason. I’ll have a bit of a chat to Brandon and see what happened there.

“As I said, we don’t agree with everything that happens with the referees but we show respect and it is bad enough turning the ball over and giving away a penalty.

“I am pretty sure it isn’t going to happen again.”