Smith, who has not pulled on his boots since he made a fairytale comeback for Green Island to play his 50th game for his boyhood club in June, appears to be heading back to Japan.
Details have been oddly scarce since the Kobe Steelers club put up a social media post at the weekend saying the popular former All Blacks fullback/winger was returning to Japan.
Smith, who had played for Kobe the previous season, never really confirmed his rugby playing days were over.
He turns 36 in June, but fitness has never been an issue, and there will be little concern he can slot back into professional rugby.
Smith played 84 tests from 2009 to 2019, and 153 games for the Highlanders, before heading to play in France.
There is a decent New Zealand influence at the Steelers.
Former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith is the director of rugby and former Otago prop Steve Cumberland is scrum coach, and the playing roster includes former Highlanders Tom Franklin, Richard Buckman and Hayden Parker, as well as former All Blacks first five Aaron Cruden.
Kobe has three wins and six losses in the top tier of Japan Rugby League One, though two of those losses were because the club could not field a team due to Covid.
Meanwhile, former Highlanders coach Greg Cooper is having a great run with his Japanese club.
The Mitsubishi Dynaboars, featuring former Otago forwards Dylan Nel and Jackson Hemopo, lead the second tier with six straight wins, the latest a 15-10 triumph over a Kintetsu Liners side featuring Wallabies greats Will Genia and Quade Cooper.
