Won't connect to SMB first time - always have to cancel and connect a second time...

I have a 16" 2021 Macbook Pro M1 Max running the latest public Ventura, and a 2017 27" iMac on the same network.

They are both on a LAN (Macbook via Wifi, iMac via Ethernet) and they are both directly connected via a Thunderbolt connection for faster transfers to a backup drive connected to the imac, using SMB. (Backup drive is directly connected to the iMac, Macbook connects via SMB to the drive on the iMac)

The problem is that every time I try to establish the connection, by going to the Finder Menu > Go > Connect to Server

I double click the SMB connection and it just times out - it does nothing.. I have to cancel the operation and double click it again - then the list of available drives is displayed immediately.

Why can't I connect to the SMB share first time, only on the second attempt?

This happens EVERY time and I've no idea why...

Thanks.