'Too afraid to admit it': Departing star Brandon Smith takes subtle jab at Roosters over 'already signed' DCE deal

Daly Cherry-Evans will swap one famous Sydney beach for another – the Sea Eagles skipper is "signed and delivered" with the Roosters, according to Brandon Smith.

The "unwanted" Smith is set to move to the Rabbitohs early in a move that will free up the salary cap room for the Chooks to sign the Maroons halfback.

Put to Smith his cash was going to Cherry-Evans, he said he's "thinking it might be", and then admitted he would've preferred the money being spent on him was instead funnelled into younger players.

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"I think (Cherry-Evans) has already been signed and delivered for a while now – everyone's just too afraid to admit it," he said on 2GB's Wide World of Sports Radio on Thursday.

"I was hoping (the money) would go towards some of the younger players that are coming through because if they don't snap them up now, they probably won't be able to keep them."

Smith said Naufahu Whyte and Blake Steep will both demand significant pay rises when they come off-contract at the end of next season.

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He and winger Dominic Young are both set to leave the club early. The English import has been told he's free to talk to other clubs and leave immediately. He's expected to return to Newcastle.

Smith said at the time of his Thursday night interview with WWOS Radio he was still technically a Rooster, but had played his last game for the Tricolours.

"It's not that I feel unloved, I feel unwanted, which is not quite the same," he told 2GB.

"At least at the other end of the spectrum, everyone else wants me at the Bunnies so I'm looking forward to that whole situation and what it has for me."

He said the Roosters "didn't really explain it to me very well" the reasons behind why they wanted him gone.

"They're just excited to get rid of me, and get some money saved up for maybe this year, maybe next year."

Smith said he also had no concerns about working with Wayne Bennett, three years after turning him down at the Dolphins.

"I think we're all good, mate. That was a long time ago – that's water off a duck's back."

Bennett told media on Thursday he didn't think he'd be able to get the best out of Smith before the end of 2025 as he continues to return to full fitness from an ACL injury.

Smith reckons that's just Bennett "looking after me".

"I think he's already showing us his class leadership as a coach," he said.

"Even if I come back and play badly, he's got something to fall back on."