Parramatta may have struggled to make an early dent on the scoreboard but they got under the skin of Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith, who was sent to the sin bin in their NRL semi-final at AAMI Park.

For just the second time in his 412-game career, Smith was given a 10 minute time-out for lashing out at Reed Mahoney with 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Smith reacted to the Eels hooker grabbing hold of his jumper, slapping his hands away while assistant referee Grant Atkins watched on from nearby.

Referee Ben Cummins then marched the Storm veteran, whose only other sin bin came in round four last year for back-chatting referee Matt Cecchin in their clash with Cronulla.

Smith is likely to be charged with contrary conduct, which could be a $1500 fine if the match review committee give him the same penalty as Souths playmaker Cody Walker, who was sin binned for a similar offence in their finals win over Manly on Friday night.

If he is charged with striking Smith could miss game time, with a grade one charge carrying a 200 base point penalty.

Back in 2008 Smith missed Melbourne’s 40-0 grand final loss to Manly through suspension.

Smith was rubbed out for two weeks for a grapple tackle during Storm’s semi-final win over Brisbane, causing him to miss the rest of the finals series.