Cameron Smith responds amid NRL rumours about Jahrome Hughes' exit from Melbourne Storm
Corey Parker has revealed 'rumblings' that the halfback might be eyeing a move to a Queensland club.
Cameron Smith has moved to shoot down speculation about Jahrome Hughes leaving the Melbourne Storm, revealing there have been no signs from the Storm halfback that he wants out. Broncos great Corey Parker revealed on SEN radio this week that he'd heard 'rumblings' Hughes is looking at moving to a Queensland club to be closer to he and his wife's family.
Hughes is under contract with the Storm until the end of 2026, and the club has now reportedly begun negotiations to extend him for another two years. “I’m hearing rumblings that one superstar in the game wants to come home to Queensland and be with the family,” Parker said. “Whether that’s at the end of his contract or not, that remains to be seen. That player is Jahrome Hughes.
“I know his wife is from the Gold Coast and at this stage it’s just rumblings that I’m hearing. It remains to be seen if it’s before his term of contract or not, but watch this space. We’ll just see what happens or unfolds in this space moving forward."
Cameron Smith's eye-opening response to Jahrome Hughes claims
Hughes has since moved to dismiss the rumours, and Storm legend Smith reckons he hasn't seen any signs the Kiwi halfback wants to leave. “Most times the performance is a dead giveaway on the field and I reckon he’s been one of the best, if not, their best player this year,” Smith said on SEN on Tuesday.
“The form line’s not giving too much away about him being unsettled. I completely understand the thinking of wanting to be closer to family as far as wanting to start their own family and being around support, because I lived down there for 20 years when I started my own family and it’s difficult, it’s challenging.
“I ran into him the other night…he seems pretty settled, I know his wife as well, caught up with them at the start of the year actually and they seemed really happy. I understand the want to come back home, we’ll watch this space.”
Smith admitted the Storm probably wouldn't stand in Hughes' way should he seek a release for family reasons. "He’s an extremely important part of that football club and he’s a wonderful club person and (his wife) is heavily involved in the footy club as well,” Smith said.
“They’re a club that has never stood in the way of guys wanting to make decisions for personal reasons… If he went there with a legitimate reason to get back home, I don’t think they’re going to stand in his way.”
RELATED:
Ezra Mam's admission about Latrell Mitchell as NRL star breaks silence
Staggering detail about wife as NRL world saddened by Dale Finucane news
Jahrome Hughes responds to NRL club switch rumours
Hughes was born in New Zealand but moved to the Gold Coast as a teenager, and his wife is also from Queensland. He played one game for the Gold Coast Titans in 2013 and one for the North Queensland Cowboys in 2016, before moving to Melbourne and becoming a superstar at the Storm.
"It's just rumours, I haven't seen the story but I don't know what they're talking about," he said on Monday when asked about Parker's claims. "Obviously I was up there before ... but this (Melbourne) feels like home. My mum and my sisters live down here as well which makes it a bit more homely and obviously my wife is from Queensland, but she's loving it at the moment as well so this is home for us."
Hughes has played 130 games for the Storm, as well as nine Test matches for New Zealand. With Adam Reynolds set to hang up the boots at the end of the 2025 season, the Broncos would love to snare a halfback of Hughes' calibre - and perhaps Parker is trying to speak it into reality.
Chris Orr, the director and owner of the company that manages Hughes, told SEN: “His agent within our group represents him and he’d be in contact with him over different stages of his career. But at no stage have I heard of Jahrome Hughes heading back this way (to Queensland)."