Career
A brilliant all-round sportsman in his youth, Smith played first-grade district cricket and Australian football.His first club football was for Dennis, which played in the sub-district competition, where his brother Len had started his career. When scouts for VFL club Melbourne arrived at the Smith household to sign Len, Victor Smith suggested that young Norm might make the grade as well. Melbourne were ambitiously rebuilding their side and Smith made his debut under legendary coach Frank 'Checker' Hughes in 1935. Ironically, while Norm's career blossomed at Melbourne, brother Len failed to nail down a regular place and he moved to the VFA and later to Fitzroy to further his career.
Coaching style:
A stickler for team discipline, Smith was variously called the 'Demon Dictator' and the 'Martinet of Melbourne'. His canniness and brushed-back auburn hair earned him another nickname: the 'Red Fox'. Smith built his success on an espirit de corps, creating close-knit teams during Melbourne's years of greatness that were the envy of the other eleven clubs. Many sought to emulate his methods and create a similar atmosphere for their own clubs. Norm and Len Smith (who coached Fitzroy from 1958 to 1962) led the move toward a quicker, play-on style of football. Melbourne sides under Smith were fast, disciplined, fit and confident. The only real lapse of discipline came in the 1958 Grand Final when, attempting to equal Collingwood's great four in a row record, the Demons were baited into losing their concentration by a fanatical Collingwood team.