Nick Smith Biography

Nick Smith announces his retirement.

Smith hasn't played since he tore his hamstring tendon off the bone against Melbourne in round 21 last year and was forced to have multiple surgeries since.

"I'm 31 so it was always going to be an uphill battle. I did hold out hope I could get back and I got close a couple of times and had setbacks, so that has been the hardest thing," Smith said.

"This club has special place in my heart and I leave with no animosity or anger, it's been incredible."

Nick Smith concedes his career could be over if his latest operation fails to fix his troublesome hamstring.

"If the club still wants me and I can still go around again, good. If not, then that's life," he said.

"If I was the club, I mean I'm 31 and I haven't played for a year, I wouldn't call it a risk, but do they give a young guy an opportunity (instead)?

"It probably depends on how the side is going. There [are] a lot of balls up in the air at the moment so we'll just figure it out at the end of the year."

Nick Smith's future is up in the air after being ruled out for the remainder of the season with a persistent hamstring injury.

The 31-year-old has not played at all in 2019 after undergoing surgery in May.

Smith, who is out of contract at the end of the season, will require another operation in the coming week after first suffering the injury in round 21 last year.

"It's been decided that the best way forward is for Nick to undergo further surgery," Swans head of football Charlie Gardiner said.

"It's incredibly disappointing for Nick and for us, as he is a key part of our defensive group and an outstanding on-field leader. He has worked tirelessly in his rehabilitation over the past 10 months and we were hoping to have him back playing in the second half of the season."

Nick Smith's already frustrating season could in doubt before it began after he was forced to have a second operation on his troublesome hamstring.

"A decision was made earlier this week to undergo some more surgery on that hamstring to try and relieve some of the scar tissue around that hamstring," Sydney football manager Charlie Gardiner said.

"Hopefully that surgery will put his issues behind him and we can see him back on the park soon."

Nick Smith's 2018 season is almost certainly over after he suffered a hamstring tendon injury in the opening quarter of the Swans clash against Melbourne at the MCG.

"Nick's got a hamstring tendon injury. At this early stage it looks like six weeks, which obviously makes the season challenging," Sydney football manager Tom Harley said.

Nick Smith will play his 200th game this weekend in what has been a largely unheralded career for the Swans, particularly by the umpires.

Smith has yet to be awarded a vote in the Brownlow Medal after 199 games, meaning he tops the competition as the player with the most games without a vote.

And if Smith plays out the rest of the year he will also overtake Geelong's Tom Lonergan (209 games) as the player who has played the most games in VFL/AFL history without a Brownlow vote.

Dan Hannebery and defenders Dane Rampe and Heath Grundy have been added to the Sydney Swans leadership group for 2016.

The trio was voted into the new roles by teammates on the Swans' pre-season camp to Coffs Harbour a fortnight ago, joining co-captains Jarrad McVeigh and Kieren Jack, plus Nick Smith, Josh Kennedy and Luke Parker in the eight-man group.

Nick Smith signs a two-year contract extension with Sydney to remain at the club until the end of 2018.

"He's a really underrated player who plays on the best small forward every week, and gets the most out of himself every session, every day, and is a great example for younger players coming into our club," Swans coach Justin Longmire said.

"Nick is always trying to get better and you know you've got a player who every time you send him down the race, is going to give it his all.

"He doesn't leave anything to chance and that's what makes him so good."

Nick Smith re-signs with Sydney for another season, committing himself to the club to the end of 2016.

Swans defender Nick Smith says he still harbours ambitiions of moving into the Sydney midfield.

"I played a bit of a tagger through the midfield in my third or fourth season and then got shifted back," Smith said.

"Hopefully I'm not too pigeon-holed yet into just being a defender and can hopefully get into the midfield again."

Sydney Swans defender Nick Smith is battling an inner ear infection and won't pay against Port Adelaide.

"He's got a virus that has knocked him around pretty badly," Swans coach John Longmire.

"It's a severe inner ear infection, so it's meant he's got a touch of vertigo, so he's not playing this week.'

Nick Smith is striving to make a 'real impact' for the Swans after being elevated into the leadership group.

"You get selected in it, but if you don't do anything and don't try to have an impact on the group and make us improve, it doesn't mean much," Smith said.

"I guess I've always had ambitions to be in the leadership group, you have more of a say in where the club's going and can hopefully [help us] improve a bit more and make us win more matches ultimately."