CAMERON Smith has been sent a warning letter by the NRL for lashing out with his elbow in an act of retaliation against former Manly player Matt Parcell.

Early in the second half of the Storm’s comfortable victory, Smith was put on his back by a driving tackle from Leeds hooker Parcell, with the lifting nature of the hit enraging the biggest name in the game.

He quickly spun around to make his dissatisfaction clear, dropping his elbow into the back of the Leeds No.9’s head after the referee had already awarded a penalty to Melbourne.

WATCH SMITH LASH OUT IN THE VIDEO BELOW!

The Parcell tackle put Smith just over the horizontal, but it didn’t look to be the kind of tackle to warrant such an angry reaction.

And that’s the view that was taken by the NRL, who on Monday issued Smith with a ‘concerning act letter’, although he was not charged by the match review committee.

Had Smith been cited it would have put the NRL in an awkward position, given the champion hooker is headlining a tribute match alongside Johnathan Thurston this Friday night, which is being marketed as ‘A Night with Cameron and JT’.

The NRL’s letter followed a few stern words from the referee as the incident unfolded, with Smith told off for lashing out after Parcell was penalised for the tackle, which put Smith just over the horizontal.

In commentary for Fox League, Mick Ennis was surprised by Smith’s reaction.

“You don’t often see Cameron Smith react like this, it’s a lovely shot there, driving tackle from Parcell and Smith took a real dislike to it,” Ennis said.

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