Retired Melbourne prop and current forwards coach of the Storm Jason Ryles has a good reason why Cameron Smith has the ear of the referees – he’s the Australian captain.

Much has been made of Smith’s perceived ability to control a game through the officials but Ryles was having none of that.

“He is a quality player, he’s a Test captain and the referees have a lot of respect for him and he has a lot of respect for the referees,” Ryles said.

“If I was the referee and the Test captain spoke to me politely I would speak to him.”