Uncovering the intriguing layers of Bailey Smith ahead of his grudge match with the Bulldogs

There is a public side to Bailey Smith that is hard to miss. But behind all the carry-on, there are many layers to one of the game’s most interesting, complex and unfiltered players.

If there was a swear jar at Kardinia Park, Bailey Smith would be funding the next development.

One of the first things which hit Geelong people when the former Bulldog arrived was his high-end energy and ability to drop an obscenity in just about every sentence.

It’s not done in an aggressive way, it’s just one layer on a very complex, unfiltered personality that while cringeworthy at times, ends up being strangely endearing.

“That’s just Bailey being Bailey,” is the reaction now.

There was a point in the pre-season when people were still adjusting to life with Smith that he was pulled aside by management and told he may have to tone things down.

Smith’s first year at the Cats is off to a fantastic start. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos/Getty Images

“A quick little whisper in his ear had to be had,” one Cats insider said. “When you’re doing it across the entire football department, to someone across the other side of the room, there are about 25 people working at their desks who really don’t want to hear you swearing.

“But he has no awareness that he’s saying it as it’s part of his energy, he’s always up and about.”

Smith is a force on and off the field.

It didn’t take the Cats faithful long to fall in love. When he played his first pre-season game in the blue and white hoops wearing a white Nike headband – he was later told by the AFL he had to hide the logo – they sold out at the club shop and sports stores around town.

He was already one of the most marketable players in the competition before he arrived at Geelong thanks to a social media following which includes 363,000 followers on Instagram.

His chiseled six-pack – which is on display at every opportunity – and trademark flowing locks have made him a fashion icon. He has been a long-time brand ambassador for Cotton On, one of Geelong’s main sponsors and developed his own clothing line.

Then there is the beer company Barry – he has a stake in it along with fellow AFL stars Charlie Curnow, Nick and Josh Daicos – which he’s consistently promoting, telling people on his socials to come and “get on the piss” with him at the Torquay Hotel, his new favourite drinking home.

Smith has arguably footy’s biggest brand. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

That’s the very public side of Smith but behind all the ‘Bazlenka’ carry-on, there are many intriguing layers.

When Smith arrived at the Cats last October via a trade with the Western Bulldogs for draft pick No. 17, he was allocated the No. 3 jumper. Club legend Fred Wooller, the captain of the 1963 premiership team, was on hand to present it to him on his first day at GMHBA Stadium.

Brownlow Medallist Jimmy Bartel, the modern-day great who had also worn No. 3, also fired off a message to Smith just like Wooler had to him when he started.

“I just wrote him a nice message saying, ‘Welcome No. 3, love to have you, we’re a club inside a club’,” Bartel explains.

He didn’t know Smith and was shocked with what he received back.

“He wrote back this really big message, it was obvious he’d thought about everything, it was almost self-deprecating, like I just hope I can live up to you guys who have worn it, all this sort of stuff,” Bartel says.

“It also said, ‘I would love to have you down for the first game, make sure you bring your family down’.

“That was before Christmas, then I ran into him when I was down at Geelong for something some time later and he was into me, saying you said you would come down for the first game, you said you would be there.

“Then in the lead-up to the game I got a call from the club who said Bailey wants you there, he had followed it up again. When I presented the jumper (before Rd 1 game against Fremantle) I was 100 per cent genuine when I said you have been nothing but respectful to me, you wanted my boys down here.

“He was awesome and I met his whole family that day, his sister, mother, father and grandparents, they were all like thank you so much for making the effort of coming as Bailey was so keen for you to be here.”

Fred Wooller presents the number 3 to Bailey Smith. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos

Smith, 24, has found his place and his people, according to friends. He has told them if football stopped tomorrow he’d be OK because he has found his dream property and lifestyle.

Two months before he signed with Geelong, Smith bought a 5.8 hectare property in Bellbrae – just off the Great Ocean Rd at the back of Torquay and Jan Juc – for $4 million. It was described as an “entertainer’s dream, complete with plenty of land, a large mineral pool, in-ground trampoline and expansive alfresco with exceptional indoor-outdoor flow”.

He lives there by himself with his dog and cat, and has ingratiated himself into the local community which includes one of the Geelong’s greatest ever players, Gary Ablett Jnr.

Smith and Ablett have struck up a friendship, catching up most mornings for a swim in the ocean and cup of coffee with rising star Ollie Dempsey, also a regular.

His best friend at the club may surprise many; captain Patrick Dangerfield.

The pair couldn’t be further apart in so many ways with the Cats skipper, a happily married father-of-three who doesn’t drink and probably couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the inside of a nightclub.

“Danger is like a chameleon, he can go and hang out with the Prime Minister and he can go and hang out with Bailey Smith,” is how one Cats insider describes the unlikely bond.

Smith’s hyperactive personality is not everyone’s cup of tea but it’s tolerated by many at the Cats because of how hard he works at his craft.

He won the respect of his new teammates early doors with his attitude and appetite to training which has been described as “manic”.

And there is one other important factor which has become obvious over the first 10 weeks of the season for the Cats players – Bailey Smith can help them win another premiership.

Commentators have started calling Smith ‘Brownlow Baz’ after his extraordinary start to the season which has him sitting second in Brownlow betting, behind his good mate Nick Daicos.

He has been blowing up the stats sheet with Champion Data revealing Smith is the just the second player to average 30+ disposals, 10+ contested possession and 650 metres gained over nine games.

And he’s just the second player since 2019 with 30+ disposals, 10+ contested possession, 700+ metres gains, 10+ score involvements and 5+ assists.

There’s still room for some on-field antics at his new club. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Geelong hoped they were getting the line-breaker they needed but there was some uncertainty given Smith hadn’t played a game since August 2023 after blowing out his knee and missing all of 2024 at the Bulldogs.

It was that injury which in many ways started a chain of events that led to Smith joining Geelong.

After bursting onto the scene with the Dogs – he played every game in his rookie season and was unbelievable in the club’s 2021 push to the Grand Final – he had started to get frustrated with a lack of midfield minutes throughout 2023.

Dogs coach Luke Beveridge was trying to balance a midfield brigade which included Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Josh Dunkley, Jack Macrae and Adam Treloar and Smith had been squeezed out to a half-forward role.

Then he suffered the ACL injury at the start of pre-season training in December 2023, effectively ruling him out of the 2024 season.

There are varying opinions on when he fell out with the Dogs and his former teammates. Smith was already high maintenance and had dealt with some mental demons early in his career.

Smith meets his former team on Thursday night. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

He started doing his rehab work late at night when no-one else was at the club and gradually became less and less connected with his teammates. Then it was agreed he should head overseas for a mental break during the year – the Dogs officials basically told him to go – which would give everyone a breather.

But given his prolific social media posting, constant updates of Smith with his shirt off in beautiful European locations didn’t sit well with his teammates as they slogged it out at a cold Whitten Oval.

While that wasn’t the final straw, there was already a sense Smith was checking out from the Dogs and when he returned it became an open secret that he was going to move to Geelong.

The ultimate kick in the guts came when he was spotted in the MCG stands watching the preliminary final between Geelong and Brisbane in the Cats camp. By this stage he’d already officially requested a trade but the arrogance of the move offended many Bulldogs people.

They had their noses out of joint again when Smith produced his infamous Ballarat quip after playing a starring role in Geelong’s defeat of Collingwood in front of 82,000 at the MCG, on the same day 4800 had watched him former team at a windswept construction site in Ballarat.

“Not getting that in Ballarat,” he said.

It drew an amusing response from Bontempelli with the Dogs captain saying: “It’s nice to know we’re still on Bailey’s mind.”

He then added: “There’s probably a few less people in Ballarat for him to flip the bird to”. That was in reference to Smith being fined twice this year for sticking his middle finger up to the crowd.

It’s all great theatre ahead of the Bulldogs making the trip down the highway for Thursday night football. Will they or won’t they physically go after Smith has been the narrative in the lead-up.

Smith’s only comment about the showdown came after he’d played another starring role in the Cats win over Port Adelaide.

“I live for that sort of stuff, so it’s just going to be the best fun. Regardless of how it goes, I can’t wait to get back out there,” he told Fox Footy.

Impressively, without adding to the swear jar.

Originally published as Uncovering the intriguing layers of Bailey Smith ahead of his grudge match with the Bulldogs