in round 23 of the 2004 nrl season smith made his nrl debut for the melbourne storm against the canberra raiders. he scored a try on debut. smith didn't play first-grade in 2005 but became a regular first-grader in 2006. the storm reached the 2006 nrl grand final and smith was selected to play from the interchange bench in the loss to the broncos. he played in the 2007 nrl grand final win over the sea eagles, again selected off the interchange. in 2010, the premiership that smith won with melbourne was stripped by the nrl due to the club's major and deliberate breaches of the salary cap.