Smith, Tyrone

Robust centre Tyrone Smith returns to rugby following a five year absence from the code in rugby league. Smith, brother of CA Brumbies and Wallabies legend, George, has spent the past three seasons playing with Harlequins RL (formerly the London Broncos) in the European Super League, accumulating 62 matches for the London-based club and scoring 22 tries. The former schoolboy prodigy returns to Canberra to resume his rugby career and has been earmarked to play either inside or outside centre. Smith, a Tongan rugby league international, is known for his solid defence, exciting attacking flair and excellent fend. The 24 year old joins the likes of Stirling Mortlock, Gene Fairbanks, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Julian Huxley and Clyde Rathbone as likely centre options for the CA Brumbies.

Born in Sydney, Smith played his junior football with the Warringah Roos before taking up a scholarship at St Edmund’s College in Canberra. Having toured the United Kingdom with the Australian Schoolboys in 2002, he crossed codes and signed with the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League in the same year. Smith played two seasons for the Roosters Premier League side, and scored a try in their 30-8 grand final win over St George Illawarra in 2004 before linking with the London Broncos in 2005. In the same year he made his international rugby league debut for Tonga against Samoa, scoring two tries in their 34-20 win in Sydney. Smith added a further three international caps and three tries to his tally during Tonga’s Federation Shield campaign in 2006, with the side eventually succumbing to England, 32-14, in the final.