The Melbourne Storm star all but guaranteed he would be wearing the red, white and blue of the Sydney Rooster come 2023.

"I've made up my mind," Smith told YKTR Sports podcast.

"I've still got a meeting with the Storm and Craig (Bellamy) is pretty persuading as well."

He said he was blown away by the Roosters powerbrokers, coach Trent Robinson and club games record-holder Mitch Aubusson.

The 25-year-old has been courted by newcomers The Dolphins, Gold Coast and said that Penrith, Wests Tigers and Parramatta had also shown interest.

But he was particularly taken by the Roosters after being invited to Robinson's house and making pizza with his French wife and family.

"The thing that really gets me is his love for culture - like, Aboriginal culture, Maori culture, Samoan culture, Tongan culture," Smith added.

"He knows so much stuff about it. Reads books on all those things. And that to me is special because obviously I am a proud Maori man ... for him to be like that is awesome.

"He pretty much persuaded me with his words."

Smith played golf with Kiwi Test teammate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and former Rooster stars Aubusson and Jake Friend and lunched with heavy-hitter Mark Bouris.

"Mitchy Aubo almost made me cry," Smith said.

"How he spoke about the club and what they've done for him and the history of why they wear that jersey and why we play the way we do.

"Back in the '20s, Bondi wasn't what we see today. That's what he was talking about. It pretty much wanted to make you cry.

"I was just looking at the Roosters jersey as he was saying it and I had goosebumps. I was looking at it going, 'I want to win a premiership in that jersey'."

Melbourne gave a blunt "no comment" to AAP when asked their thoughts on Smith's involvement in the podcast.

But here is the thing, Smith is still under contract for the Storm for the upcoming season.

While I delight in seeing the year-in-year-out contenders face at least some kind of hardship, the fact that this kind of thing can just happen is absurd.

Under the NRL's current rules, a player is able to sign with another rival club a full year before their contract ends.

This means they could have a destination locked in for the following season while still playing with their current club, just as the case with Smith.

Now, I am all for player empowerment, but there's just something that rubs me the wrong way about this particular rule and the situations that come out of it.

The NRL is far from the only sport in the world that has to deal with rumours (or essentially fact in the Smith situation) regarding player movement.

It seems everywhere you look at soccer around the world, there is a star player unhappy with how they are being treated and wanting out as a result. But they at least have a system in place (the transfer window) so that player movement can be condensed to a few months throughout the year and the play on the field can be the focus (at least that is the hope) for the rest of the time.

The NBA provides a good example of how a toxic situation with a player wanting to leave can cause problems all around.

Australia's own Ben Simmons hasn't played for the 76ers all season after a myriad of issues - including a mental health situation which I hope Simmons gets the better of. What this has meant is team chemistry has gone down the toilet and a .500 record to go along with what is supposed to be one of the best teams in the league.

But back to Smith; I can understand the thought process if someone was to tell me that Smith "loves his teammates, loves the sport and will compete to the best of his ability for the Storm because he's a competitor and that's what competitors do". I totally understand that and would like to believe that if I was in his situation, I would play my heart out regardless of where I was meant to play the year after.

But what of his teammates? You hear all the time the clichés like "going to war together" and a "band of brothers in the locker room." While I think for the most part these are overcooked and overplayed, it raises an interesting point about whether this potential move so early on will have a detrimental impact.

Should I be a Storm player sitting down after a game in which Smith had a stinker, I would be hard pressed not to believe that my teammate threw in the towel. That's not a situation that's fair on anyone.

But then think of Smith himself. Under the rules, he has every right to sign a new contract with a new team, and if he doesn't do that now, some other hooker probably will. He didn't make the rule, he is only trying to benefit from it - which I have no issue with.

Now as a result, he is being played out as the bad boy for speaking publicly about his process - which isn't transparency from our star athletes what we want?

Regardless of what comes next, Smith will receive far from a warm reception when he arrives to Melbourne's training camp. What has happened has already happened, but maybe the next crop of stars won't have to worry about signing on the dotted line too soon.

Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys does not seem pleased with how his sport is being run and told the The Sydney Morning Herald that changes could well and truly be considered once the current collective bargaining agreement comes to a finish at the end of the 2022 season.

Those changes can't come soon enough.