Geelong superstar Bailey Smith has reportedly been given a stern warning from the AFL, after his satirical comment on Instagram regarding the future use of drugs.
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The 24-year-old, who is in career-best form, replied to a comment on Instagram last week asking if he was going to have “nose beers” after his win over former club the Western Bulldogs last Thursday night.
Satirically, Smith replied saying: “Na bro, after the flag maybe tho (sic).”
The comment has created even more public attention on his first year in the navy hoops, and a very hard word from the league says Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle Jon Ralph.
“The AFL’s message to Bailey Smith is very clear: ‘Pull your head in Bailey, you are in the gun right now,’” Ralph said on Tuesday night.
“He’s left with a really strong message from the AFL: ‘If this happens again, don’t cry poor; don’t say I wasn’t aware of it’.
“The AFLPA boss Paul Marsh says it’s in his character, it was a tongue-in-cheek thing, he’s got a lot of personality in his game — but it was probably misplaced.
“Once again, Smith is the centre of attention. Once again, Chris Scott, Andrew Mackie and Steve Hocking have to deal with their star player mid-week.”
The dashing midfielder is every chance to be leading the league’s Brownlow Medal count after 11 rounds, and again starred against the Bulldogs for his 33 disposals, seven tackles, six tackles and 810 metres gained.
Geelong have been supportive of their star recruit ever since his arrival at the club, however Midweek Tackle panellist Corbin Middlemas believes behind closed doors they would be reminding him of the fine line that comes from being such a public figure.
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“I’m sure that what we’re hearing from Geelong publicly is different to how they’re treating Bailey Smith internally. I think so far, the way they’ve treated it publicly is completely consistent with the way that they’ve treated a lot of their players; particularly under Chris Scott’s tenure,” said Middlemas.
“The difference with Bailey Smith is, he’s in a very different position than a lot of those other guys … even guys like Tyson Stengle and Jack Steven that have come in over the years that have had their troubles; often they’re in their last stop in the footy system.
“That’s not Bailey Smith’s circumstance though, so it’s another interesting juggling act for the Cats … I know both Steve Hocking and Chris Scott have spoken about the fact that it’s a good challenge for them as CEO, coach and as a club to try and work their way through this.
“There’s going to be a couple of bumpy moments as there has been early on, and yet the performance on the field has been first-class; he’s arguably the Brownlow Medal leader. So they’re certainly getting the best out of him on-field.”
Smith, who didn’t play any football in his final year at Whitten Oval due to an ACL injury, seems to thrive off the extra public attention that comes with personality added Ralph.
“Part of me thinks that this isn’t his kryptonite this attention, this is his superpower. He absolutely loves this stuff, and this is the reason that he’s playing so well.”
Geelong play West Coast this Sunday night at Optus Stadium, starting at 5:20pm (7:20pm AEST).
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