AFL 2023: Bailey Smith to remain at Western Bulldogs as Dermott Brereton urges rethink
As speculation on Bailey Smith’s future continues, Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton has recalled his own career to urge Smith to ‘utterly prioritise football’.
Bailey Smith will play for the Western Bulldogs next year and the midfielder has been urged to make a choice between his football and social media influence.
Unless there is a dramatic change of heart over the trade period, Smith will see out his contract at the Dogs next year, despite speculation he would push for a trade as he hunts more midfield time.
The midfielder’s form faded as he was shifted out of the centre square by coach Luke Beveridge this year but his social media empire has only continued grow.
Smith is one of the AFL’s most popular faces on social media, with more than 338,000 followers on Instagram as he spruiks brands such as Monster Energy, Cotton On and McDonalds.
He is also one of football’s hardest trainers and his commitment to fitness is unquestioned within Dogs circles.
The ultra-fit Smith was seen running laps after playing a match earlier this season and he stepped out into training at Prahran Football Club last weekend despite being out of the Dogs’ round 24 game in Geelong due to illness.
Hawthorn great Jordan Lewis questioned his commitment to football last week, comments that were scoffed at by his manager Paul Connors, who said Smith was as engaged with football as any player.
But champion forward Dermott Brereton said he saw parallels between his own steps towards media while a player in 1993, when he realised he wasn’t as focused on football as he should have been.
Brereton missed all of the 1993 season due to a hip injury and moved from Hawthorn to Sydney the next year.
“The coach (Alan Joyce) pulled me aside and said you have been at Channel 9 for 12 hours, you called in on Monday and couldn’t get to training … (Joyce said) ‘I understand you have another job but we think you aren’t prioritising football enough’,” Brereton told SEN.
“I was so insulted, I thought, ‘How dare you, I have never done anything but given my all to play football’.
“Halfway through my year I went, ‘They are right’. As soon as a player acknowledges the fault himself he is in a position to rectify it but the player must acknowledge it. We don’t know whether Bailey Smith acknowledges where he is at with it, I hope he does and he is taking steps to completely and utterly prioritise football.”
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