Smith, who returned from a groin injury in Roar's loss to Gold Coast United but had to leave the field at half-time, was backing himself to celebrate his new deal on New Year's Eve by playing against Melbourne Victory.

The Roar captain, plucked from the QSL as an injury replacement by the now defunct North Queensland Fury in 2009-10, has enjoyed a rapid rise that has taken him from semi-professionalism to the captaincy of the A-League's best-ever side.

An integral part of Ange Postecoglou's planning, the frugal centre back said that it had been a question of when he'd sign with Brisbane rather than if he'd sign.

"After the grand final last year, Ange brought (re-signing) up, and there's nowhere else I'd rather be," Smith said. "It's nice to know that you're going to be stable for the next few years.

"Obviously the last few years have seen a lot of growth in my game and obviously in the next few years I hope to get better and better."

Brisbane's recent defensive struggles while Smith has spent stints on the injury list have reinforced the cool-headed skipper's importance and organisational abilities leading the high-line back four.

Postecoglou said Smith had been a priority signing and his retention was part of Brisbane's ethos of retaining a core group of leaders and quality clubmen.

"It's good that we've locked him away for another few years. It keeps the nucleus together for next year and beyond," Postecoglou said.

"He's wholehearted in his approach and he's doing what I expected of him and I'm sure he'll grow into that even further."

Smith's signing came as a much-needed slice of positivity for Roar, who are on a club-record losing streak and will be out to avoid a sixth-straight loss, and third in a row at home, when they take on Victory - the side that have caused them the most problems in the past two seasons.

Precocious attacking talents Thomas Broich and Henrique will remain sidelined for the blockbuster clash, while in-form Issey Nakijima-Farran left training yesterday with a minor ankle injury but is not considered in doubt for the Saturday-night clash.