Former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Getty Images
Former All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith. Photo / Getty Images
Recently retired All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith has taken up a temporary non-paying role with NRL team the Melbourne Storm.
While a third-string Storm team are battling it out against the New Zealand Warriors at Rotorua this afternoon, Smith was seen on the sideline sporting a Storm polo shirt.
Smith has had a long association with Storm head coach Craig Bellamy and football manager Frank Ponissi.
"It started when they came on an end-of-year tour with the All Blacks, when Graham Henry, Steve (Hansen) and I were coaching together," Smith explained.
"We just created this relationship where we shared ideas with Storm - they'd come with us and we'd come over to Melbourne Storm and see what they were doing."
"It's pretty informal - one of the owners is one of my best friends, Bart Campbell - so I do it for him as much as anything.
"I learn more than I give, as you share one idea you normally get five back," Smith said of his addition to the team.
He insists that while he is semi-retired, he still keeps a keen eye on high performance sport.
Smith said that today's game was a great opportunity for coaching staff to see where players' skills levels are at.
"This will be a good marker for them as young players to understand where they are at and where they've got to go," he said.
Jason Ryles was brought in as assistant defence coach for England in 2016. Photo / Getty Images
The Storm isn't the only place you'll find Smith do some work, adding that he also heads off to Japan and Italy throughout the year.
"I'm still living in Cambridge, I wouldn't spend more than three weeks in Melbourne in a year.
"I'm a Waikato boy, I do a wee bit of work I do in Japan and a wee bit in Italy, a wee bit with Melbourne Storm and that's pretty much my year," he said.
Apart from those short-term advisory roles, Smith says he is enjoying spending as much time to himself as he can.
When asked if he would consider a switch to coach full-time in the 13-man code, Smith said he didn't know enough about the sport.
