Billy Smith (rugby league, born 1999)
Billy Smith (born 7 November 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a centre for the Sydney Roosters in the NRL.
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | William Smith | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 November 1999 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 191 cm (6 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 99 kg (15 st 8 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Centre | |||||||||||||||||||||
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As of 9 September 2019 Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Background
Smith was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Playing career
Smith played for the Wyong Roos during the 2018 Intrust Super Premiership NSW season. After Wyong exited the competition, Smith played for North Sydney in the first half of the 2019 Canterbury Cup NSW season scoring 9 tries in 6 games before receiving a call up to the Sydney Roosters first grade side.[2]
In round 23 of the 2019 NRL season, Smith made his NRL debut for the Roosters against the St. George Illawarra Dragons scoring a try in a 34-12 victory at Kogarah Oval.[3]
During pre-season training for the 2020 NRL season, Smith suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury during a contact session. Sydney Roosters head coach Trent Robinson confirmed the injury saying “It’s Billy’s other knee and it’s an ACL, One of the doctors was telling me a stat where once you suffer one ACL injury you’re then a 25 per cent chance of doing the other knee inside two years if you’re under 21. We’re all feeling for Billy, there was a big opportunity there for him but the type of person he is he’ll fight back from this". Smith was widely tipped to start the year at centre after the departure of Latrell Mitchell.[4]