 Smith, who had initially signed with Super League earlier in the year, had turned his back on the rebels and had only recently re-signed with the ARL.Playing at rather than his usual position of , Smith won the Man of the Match award.Rumours of an all-in brawl that had circulated before Game II at the Melbourne Cricket Ground were realised early when the first scrum erupted into violence after NSW Jim Serdaris started throwing punches at his opposite Wayne Bartrim.