Born on 4 April 1978, Smoker grew up on a farm outside the rural West Australian town of Kondinin.
[3] Smoker played school football for Scotch and represented Western Australia at the 1994 AFL Under 18 Championships (then named the Commonwealth Bank Cup).
Due to his inability to get a game[7] in a strong West Coast side[1] and his good form for the Falcons, Smoker was the subject of trade interest from other AFL clubs at the end of 1997,[8] with Melbourne emerging as his most likely destination.
He played the first 14 of Melbourne's games,[6] including a round 3 performance against Brisbane where he was matched against Jason Akermanis and received a Brownlow Medal vote and kicked four goals,[11] two of which were in the last quarter.
[16] Smoker did not play another senior game for Melbourne in 1998, although he was "on the edge of selection" during their finals campaign and was twice named as an emergency.
[29][30] After winning the VFL reserves premiership, Smoker returned to Western Australia to play for his old club, West Perth, for the 2006 season.