Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Storm Captain Cameron Smith has declared family was his number one priority when making his decision to re-sign with Melbourne.
After months of media speculation, Smith put pen to paper on Tuesday, agreeing to a four year deal which will see the 30-year old finish his career as a one club player.
"It was a very lengthy process, but right from the start my thoughts on re-signing was about my family," Smith said.
"That was my priority, what was best for my wife and three kids and we decided that staying in Melbourne, a place that has been our home for the last 13 years was the best place for us to continue to live over the next four.
"I'm 30 years of age now, I've been around the game for a long time and obviously my life has changed a lot with having three young children down here."
Smith revealed that a discussion with his wife, Barbara on a post season family holiday was where they realised Melbourne was the best place for the Smith family.
"I think post World Cup, my wife and I went overseas for a bit of a break and we had a chance to properly sit down and have a chat because football was over," Smith said.
"We realised that our home was in Melbourne, although at times it can be tough, particularly for my wife when we're away with football or State of Origin or end of year tours, this was the place for us.
"We really enjoy living here, as I said its been our home for a long time now.
"Having great teammates at this club and obviously great coaching staff and administration that we're all very close friends with, that certainly helped make the decision a lot easier."
The Melbourne Storm Captain praised the respect his teammates showed throughout the contract negotiations, declaring he is looking forward to continuing with Storm for a further four seasons.
"The boys have been really good about the whole situation, they haven't tried to sway me one way or the other, they've always been very neutral in the few times I did speak to the boys about it," Smith.
Fan Up and celebrate with Storm on Saturday. Don’t miss this record breaking match as Cameron Smith breaks the club games record and Billy Slater plays his 250th game. Tickets here
"Its pretty easy, if I had to make a decision on whether I had to leave my great mates or not it would have been easy just to say I'm staying. I had a very important decision to make for my family, they are the number one priority.
"I'm now very pleased that I get to finish my career at this club and be a one club player and finish hopefully with all the guys I started with."
