Reimis Smith (born 13 May 1997) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French language, French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan language, Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. Despite being based in France the ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. He previously played for the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

and

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

as a er in the NRL and has played for New Zealand 9s at international level.

Background

Smith was born in

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, and is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

descent. Smith is the son of former

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

international Tyran Smith, and the nephew of boxer and former professional

footballer Anthony Mundine. Smith played his junior rugby league for the Mascot Jets and for the South Sydney Harold Matthews team. He was educated at Matraville Sports High School and then being signed by the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

in 2013.

Playing career

Early career

In 2015, Smith played for the

' NYC team, before joining the

mid-season.

2016 – 2020: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs

On 7 May, Smith played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

against the

Junior Kangaroos The Junior Kangaroos side represents Australia in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kangaroos, after the native marsupial of that name. Since 2019, they are an under-23 side, with players selected from the NRL. Th ...

. In Round 12 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, he made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut for Canterbury against

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

, scoring two tries. He had played for the clubs Intrust Super Premiership NSW side the day before, but due to regular Canterbury centre Josh Morris being called up to the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

State of Origin side on the day of the NRL game, Smith was called up and had to drive from Sydney to

to make the game. Smith spent 2017 playing for Canterbury's NSW Cup team, making no appearances for the first-grade team. On 6 May, Smith again played at centre for the Junior Kiwis against Junior Kangaroos in the 46–22 loss at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

. in 2018, following the mid-season departure of Moses Mbye to the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

, Smith earned a recall back into Canterbury's first-grade team on the wing as Will Hopoate shifted from centre to fullback to fill in the void. He made his first appearance of the season in Round 15 against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

, playing on the wing. In Round 24 against the

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

, Smith scored a hat-trick of tries in Canterbury's shock upset 38–0 win at Jubilee Oval. He finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

with 11 matches and 7 tries. On 3 September, he was selected in the New Zealand Kiwis training squad but didn’t make the final 24-man squad. On 3 October, Smith extended his contract with Canterbury to the end of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

. In Round 8 of the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

against Manly-Warringah, Smith scored two tries in a 18–10 defeat at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

. In Round 19, Smith scored two tries in a 20–12 loss against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

ANZ Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

. In Round 23 against arch rivals Parramatta, Smith was placed on report and then sent to the sin bin in the second half of the match after headbutting Parramatta player Maika Sivo during Canterbury's upset 12–6 victory at the

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...

. On 11 November, Smith signed a contract extension to stay at Canterbury until the end of the 2021 season. Smith played 14 games for Canterbury in the

scoring four tries. The club finished in 15th place on the table, only avoiding the

Wooden Spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

by for and against over bottom side Brisbane. On 13 November, Smith was granted a release by Canterbury to join reigning premiers,

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

2021 – 2024: Melbourne Storm

Smith played a total of 25 games for Melbourne in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

as the club won 19 matches in a row and claimed the

Minor Premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

. Smith played in two finals matches including the preliminary final where Melbourne suffered a shock 10–6 loss against eventual premiers Penrith. In round 9 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

, Smith was taken from the field during Melbourne's victory over St. George Illawarra. It was later announced Smith would miss 10–12 weeks with a torn pectoral injury. Smith made 22 appearances for Melbourne in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

including the club's preliminary final loss against Penrith. He would score five tries for the season, forming a partnership on the right edge with rookie winger Will Warbrick. Smith also made three appearances for the Brisbane Tigers in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

during the 2023 season. On 31 July 2024, it was announced that Smith had been granted an immediate release from his contract to take up an opportunity elsewhere.

2024 – present: Catalans Dragons

On 1 August 2024, it was reported that he had joined

club

for the remainder of the season.

Statistics

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profile
(Archived on 26 October 2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Reimis 1997 births Living people Australian people of Māori descent Australian rugby league players Bundjalung people Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Catalans Dragons players Brisbane Tigers players Indigenous Australian rugby league players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Junior Kiwis players Melbourne Storm players New Zealand Māori rugby league players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Sydney Rugby league wingers Wiradjuri people 21st-century Australian sportsmen