Bailey Smith reveals he wouldn’t have played due to shin injury if he wasn’t facing the Bulldogs

A blistering Bailey Smith performance lifted the Cats over his old side the Bulldogs. But the Brownlow Medal contender made a stunning admission after not training for most of the week.

It was the grudge match that never was.

Bailey Smith’s first match against his former side the Western Bulldogs promised fireworks after his Ballarat barb a month ago.

The first half of the heavyweight duel resembled the Jake Paul v Mike Tyson fight: endless hype and plenty of television eyeballs for a one-sided affair which failed live up to the billing.

Rather than animosity between Smith and his ex-teammates, it was the footy that did the talking in the second half as the Bulldogs came back in another heart-stopper for the Cats.

As Smith said himself, he got lucky.

“They were good, they looked after me. I don’t know if they meant to, I think they thought I wanted the attention which I didn’t,” Smith said on Fox Footy.

“Got away with it, but just keen to be able to beat them.

“Either way if we lost it was good to just good to compete. They are a bloody good team, hopefully we see them in September.”

The only hostility on-field came pre-match between two other familiar foes in Luke Beveridge and Kane Cornes.

Smith was met with a cacophony of cheers and boos from the crowd of 32,641 – perhaps less than expected – and clearly plenty of Dogs fans made the trip down the highway.

It was those Bulldogs over the fence who were the only people getting stuck into Smith throughout the contest as the blistering midfielder was gifted acres of space and amassed 33 disposals and 810 metres gained.

That is all the more commendable after his post-game admission that he would have missed with injury if the clash wasn’t against his former side – which explains his absence at main training earlier this week.

“I’m glad I got through the game, I probably wasn’t going to play if it wasn’t the Bulldogs game. I had to jab my shin up I reckon four times, at halftime and then before the game,” Smith said.

Smith said he could have missed the blockbuster. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

“Got up there somehow, so hopefully I can pull up and get out there next week.”

Geelong coach Chris Scott claimed he and football boss Andrew Mackie were unaware of Smith’s shin injury as he downplayed the seriousness of the concern.

Asked about the shin issue which Smith had revealed, Scott questioned: “Bailey said that? Did you know about that ‘Mack’ (Andrew Mackie)?”

Scott continued: “It was obviously a very courageous effort for him to get to the line off a five-day break, the fact that the coach and GM of footy didn’t know about it suggests it wasn’t that serious.”

Scott conceded Smith would have pushed through a serious injury to face his former side but downplayed the severity of his shin concern.

“There was no issue in my mind. But again, maybe I don’t always get all the information,” Scott said.

“I think it is one of those things, the five day break, it’s not a huge issue, especially if there’s relativity there, which there was, the Bulldogs coming off five as well.

“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 there, this is one where it’s just going to be a bit sore. But always confident that 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.”

Key forward Shannon Neale, who booted five goals in the win, said he had “no idea” about Smith’s injury and that his performance was inspiring in the circumstances.

“Obviously he’s had a bit of a lighter week, stuck indoors,” Neale told this masthead.

“Maybe he’s just pulled up sore from the game – didn’t know it was to that extent.

“He’s a warrior, he’s always working on his game. He’s he’s an absolute workhorse.

“So no surprise he got out there in the end, but had no idea that was the case. So good on him, it’s pretty inspiring.”

Dogs fans delighted in Smith’s Herschelle Gibbs-esque drop late in the first quarter, spilling an open mark on the half-back flank and watching it spill over.

All Smith could do was put his arms out and shrug as the crowd at the Player’s Stand End end heckled and jeered him.

Meanwhile Dogs captain Marcus Bontempelli, mere metres away, didn’t say a word in his direction.

Scott had warned the Bulldogs not to poke the bear in the lead-up, and it was if they took heed – or maybe there is no bad blood between them at all.

The energetic Smith couldn’t stay still in the First Nations ceremony pre-game he was that pumped up.

Matt Kennedy, involved in the four-way trade with Smith last October, saddled up to the headbanded Cat at the first centre bounce and he had his first disposal inside the first 20 seconds.

After Jeremy Cameron’s opening goal, Smith stopped Kennedy’s run through the middle at the very next centre bounce with a chase and tackle, which he held a little longer than usual.

“There was a bit of spice at the end of that tackle from Bailey Smith,” Fox Footy’s Jack Riewoldt remarked.

Kennedy caught Smith high not long after, which saw him win a free kick but lose his trademark white headband.

The Cats star got the last laugh over his former side. Picture: Morgan Hancock/Getty Images

Smith banged it forward straight to a Bulldogs defender, jogging to the next contest with the white headband in his grasp like a handkerchief.

In a show of the restraint from Smith and the Bulldogs soon after, Tom Liberatore only gave Smith a light tug of the jumper after he was tackled by his former on-ball partner, but nothing more.

A 50 metre penalty against Bontempelli that cost the Dogs a goal would have been the perfect chance for Smith to deliver a barb or two at his former captain.

Smith was in the area and put a light arm around Bontempelli, but didn’t appear to have anything to say.

However, 24-year-old couldn’t help himself after Tim English handed a goal to the Cats through a downfield free kick.

It was perhaps a soft free which Tom Stewart took advantage of, and Smith had a word to Naughton and English but quickly left the situation.

Smith ended up on the deck as the siren sounded after a collision – not with a Bulldogs player, but with the umpire, as the two got up and chuckled.

All in all it was an enthralling contest, but not for the reasons we expected.

Originally published as Bailey Smith reveals he wouldn’t have played due to shin injury if he wasn’t facing the Bulldogs