Geelong recruit Bailey Smith has revealed he needed to “jab” his shin “four times” just to get through the match against his former side the Western Bulldogs on Thursday night.
And the star recruit admits he wouldn’t have played if the clash had been against any team other than his former side, such was the concern over the shin issue that saw him placed in doubt in the lead up.
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“I’m glad it’s over and done with,” he told Fox Footy after his side’s 14-point win.
“I’m glad I got through the game – I probably wasn’t going to play if it wasn’t the Bulldogs game, they said if it was a final or grand final.
“I had to jab my shin up I reckon four times at half time and then before the game so got up there somehow.
“Hopefully I can pull up and try and get out there next week. I don’t know.”
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The former Bulldog was the star of the show in the opening term as he shrugged off both cheers and jeers to rack up 10 touches against Matt Kennedy – the Blues recruit who wasn’t an ex-teammate of Smith’s.
He would go on to finish the equal-leading disposal getter on the ground with 33 in a performance that included seven tackles, six clearances and more than 800m gained for the Cats.
“It was bloody hard – they are such a good side. Their midfield, obviously unbelievable,” he praised of his former side.
“Yeah, just keen to be able to beat them.
“They are obviously an in-form side and they are bloody killing it. It’s good to see, so hopefully we see them in September or something.”
Despite the grudge match build up, Smith was largely left unruffled by his ex-teammates. Only a final quarter tussle with Tom Liberatore saw Smith engaged physically by a former teammate.
“They were good – they looked after me. I don’t know if they meant to,” he said when asked about the treatment he got.
“I think they thought I wanted the attention which I didn’t so it was good. Got away with it.”
He also revealed he was “sorta s***tting myself” for the game when speaking on Seven.
“But I almost reverse psychology-ed them into not giving me any attention, so it was good, they didn’t go after me,” he said.
Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said he didn’t want his players distracted by Smith on Thursday night.
“If you take three lines, you’d say that our midfield line has probably been as influential as most midfields in the competition. So ultimately, there can’t be any diversion from what you need to produce with your strengths,” Beveridge said.
“And so personalities didn’t come into it. I didn’t want us to be distracted, there’s no use going out there and going over the top with a confrontational approach to something that we hadn’t done previously. It wasn’t going to help.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott later downplayed the extent of Smith’s injury woes, amid reports the star will now be rested for the trip to Perth to face last-placed West Coast next week.
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Scott seemed unaware of Smith’s ordeal when directly asked in his press conference post-match.
“Bailey said that (about getting jabbed)? Oh, did you know about that Mack?” he said, addressing club football boss Andrew Mackie.
“It was obviously a very courageous effort for him to get to the line off the five-day break.
“The fact the coach and GM of footy didn’t know about it suggests it wasn’t that serious.
“There was no issue in my mind – but again, maybe I don’t always get all the information.
“My guess is it’s a case of a lot of players go in a little bit sore.
“We don’t play players when there’s a risk in there. This was one where it was going to be a bit sore, but always confident he was going to get through.
“I suspect that he would have played this game with a very serious injury if he was allowed – he was really up for it.”
Should Smith be rested for that trip to Perth, he would have more than a fortnight to prepare for Geelong’s clash with the Gold Coast on June 7 at GMHBA Stadium.
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