Bailey Smith feud with journo reaches new low as image shared

Bailey Smith has shown he cannot help himself with a new image emerging as Geelong officials announced they will take action.

Bailey Smith’s end-of-season trainwreck has hit a new low as the star footballer shared an image of a veteran football reporter on Thursday.

The Geelong midfielder came under fire when former Fox Footy AFL360 co-host Mark Robinson said one recent Instagram post from the 24-year-old was “one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen a player do”.

Smith responded with an Instagram post that showed Robinson unbuttoning the top of a chequered shirt.

The photo was used in a highly acclaimed News Corp feature story about the 62-year-old’s recovery from a heart attack.

However, Smith used the image to make a provocative post.

“Slobbo, you are one naughty boy,” Smith posted.

The latest incident appears to be the straw that has broken the camel’s back.

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Bailey Smith shared this image. Photo: Instagram @bazlenka.

Cats CEO Steve Hocking told SEN the club will meet with Smith during the off-season to address his social media antics.

“When you come off-field, the interest in him is just unbelievable. He has a very different relationship with social media to ... our age profile,” Hocking said on Thursday.

“I don’t understand it at all.

“He works that exceptionally well. There will be a time, in my view, and this will involve all of us over the off-season, where we just need to have some reflection.

“It’s not about tiptoeing around someone like Bailey but more about tailoring it accordingly.

“We’re really, really early in the relationship.”

Smith and other Cats players made headlines for the dress-up costumes worn for their “Mad Monday” celebrations after losing the Grand Final to the Brisbane Lions.

Smith ignited more controversy following Geelong’s Grand Final loss with a post on Instagram about journalist Caroline Wilson.

Max Holmes was dressed as the veteran journalist and posed alongside Smith who put his middle finger in the air. He added a dripping water emoji and wrote: “caro has never looked better.”

That came after the former Western Bulldogs star posted a quickly-deleted Brokeback Mountain reference on Instagram.

Mitch Brown — the AFL’s first openly bisexual man — hit out at Smith and his “homophobic” Mad Monday post.

In both instances, Smith escaped any punishment from the AFL with the Cats only announcing that going forward Mad Monday wouldn’t continue in the same manner.

Robinson, who retired from the media after 40 years in January, unloaded on the Geelong star and his antics.

The image of Max Holmes and Bailey Smith that sparked controversy.

Smith staring at the photographer after his verbal tirade. Picture: Alison Wynd

“Some of the players are really starting to sh*t me,” Robinson told AFL Trade Radio.

“I want to talk about Bailey Smith and everyone is going to call me a woke, silly old fool, but for Bailey Smith to abuse the photographer is one thing, that’s really poor.

“For Bailey Smith to be a part of an Instagram photo with (Holmes dressed as) Caroline Wilson and put a (colloquially) semen emoji up there is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen a player do.

“If it was my mother, or my sister, or my wife … I can guarantee you myself and my three brothers would be going around to say hello to Bailey Smith.

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Smith wasn’t happy he was snapped on the sidelines. Picture: Alison Wynd

His Mad Monday post with Patrick Dangerfield also came under fire.

“Who does he think he is to put a semen emoji on a photo of (Holmes dressed as) Caroline Wilson?

“It’s not woke to call it out. It’s decency. Be a decent person. And for the AFL to allow that to go unpunished is one of the most disgusting inactions by the AFL in my time in football.

“We can all laugh at Bailey Smith and say he’s just a young man, you can have fun without being a pig.

“I’m disappointed in Greg Swann and in Andrew Dillon for allowing that to go through to the keeper without punishment.”

It’s not the first time Robinson has voiced his scathing opinion of Smith’s behaviour.

The former Herald Sun chief football reporter labelled Smith an “entitled drip” after his finals-series incident with a photographer last month.

Smith found himself in the spotlight ahead of the club’s preliminary final showdown when he unleashed a verbal tirade at a female photographer.

Smith reportedly became upset with the photographer over shots taken of him receiving treatment on the sidelines during an open training session.