List Mgmt. Welcome Bailey Smith - officially (and finally) traded to Geelong

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Impressed with Smith's interview.

My biggest concern is him doing another ACL.

If he can avoid that, I think he will be a very nice addition to the team.
Holmes Stengle Cameron Stewart anyone can do one you don't have to have history.
 
Impressed with Smith's interview.

My biggest concern is him doing another ACL.

If he can avoid that, I think he will be a very nice addition to the team.

That's always a concern with any player who's done an ACL. Gotta look at the positives, Will Ashcroft did his and came back, played some ripping footy and won a norm smith medal & a flag for brissie.
 
I think the re-tear risk is slightly elevated in the 'normal' population, but I do wonder if it's higher (and if so, by how much) in elite sportspeople.
That's always a concern with any player who's done an ACL. Gotta look at the positives, Will Ashcroft did his and came back, played some ripping footy and won a norm smith medal & a flag for brissie.

One of my favourite all time Cats, Wojo, ruptured an ACL in 2005, went on to play as a triple premiership immortal, was lightning quick, and after his AFL Geelong career finished, tore the other ACL!

A fair bit of symmetry-

05- Right knee ACL Tear

07- Flag
09- Flag
11- Flag

13- Left knee ACL tear.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

08- DNP
12- Flag Geelong VFL team
 
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Wow! the B utt Hurt I've read on X from mostly Bulldogs fans is freakin hilarious.

Bill Hader Popcorn GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
I think there’s a good chance Geelong supporters will be a bit disappointed with Smith, at least in 2025.

That’s because (a) he’s not the superstar some think he is and (b) the ACL will be a drag.

Don’t disagree with this, but there is bull case on Smith too.

In 2021, in the semi final he went 27 and kicked 3.0 and Prelim 26 and 4.0.

That is a player with an extremely high top end.

It is a mystery why he went so much off the boil, arguably it was these performances that were the problem and he was used too much forward after that, and these were flukey nights out.

I would say the Dogs had the balance a little off, too many attacking/ball focused mids and they over corrected after that very bad 40 minutes in 2021 Grand Final. Smith was weirdly the casualty, despite being the youngest and the one they should have prioritised as Bont’s running mate.

I don’t think Geelong will have problems with his disposal. Like Holmes and Dangerfield, the burst and long kick forward works ok for us.
 
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Don’t disagree with this, but there is bull case on Smith too.

In 2021, in the semi final he went 27 and kicked 3.0 and Prelim 26 and 4.0.

That is a player with an extremely high top end.

It is a mystery why he went so much off the boil, arguably it was these performances that were the problem and he was used too much forward after that, and these were flukey nights out.

I would say the Dogs had the balance a little off, too many attacking/ball focused mids and they over corrected after that very bad 40 minutes in 2021 Grand Final. Smith was weirdly the casualty, despite being the youngest and the one they should have prioritised as Bont’s running mate.

I don’t think Geelong will have problems with his disposal. Like Holmes and Dangerfield, the burst and long kick forward works ok for us.

The following is from an article published yesterday, but I remember during the 2023 season a bit being made about the amount of game time he was spending playing as a forward and as the season went on, there was the increased talk of him potentially moving due to unrest around his role:


*Smith’s role in the 2023 season also had a considerable impact.

After averaging 29 disposals per game in 2022 in just his fourth season, Smith was shunted out of the centre-square more often in 2023 as Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Adam Treloar and Jack Macrae occupied the engine room.

He spent 46 per cent of his time as a forward in the first 13 rounds of that season, which climbed to 79 per cent from rounds 14 to 17.

Ultimately the Bulldogs’ enviable midfield assets worked against them.*

---

That last line is a little 🤨🤨🤨 for me

You have a player who had a breakout period in the 2021 finals series & then looked like one of the best young midfielders in 22 and had the second highest ave disposals at the club that year but suddenly there's better options in the middle 🤔

Across 2023 & 24, Trealor is the only Bulldogs player to average more disposals than Smith in 22, with no other teammates close to the 29.1 disposals he averaged

There's no doubt they have some good players running through their midfield, but when you've got a player in their 4th season averaging 29 disposals playing through there, you find a way to better fit them into the rotation rather than looking for reasons to squeeze them out

Whether it to us or another team, I dare say Smith was on his way out this trade period as he was likely feeling under utilised during 2023 and uncertain about where he stood in the team - so no shit other teams would be talking to him, especially if they felt they had that open spot in the midfield for him



 
Richmond fans really are obsessed with Geelong aren't they



Sorry if I've missed a previous post, but do we actually know what he's on? Surely no where near Danger and Cameron money. Would the 400-500k mark be realistic?

I think strategically he's a good get as much as from a playing perspective. He has the most followers in the AFL and is a marketers dream. I'm not a massive fan of his social media presence but I don't know him, he's just a kid and I don't know his story. Maybe he just needs to be in the right environment. Club knows more about him than us. I trust their judgement.
 

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List Mgmt. Welcome Bailey Smith - officially (and finally) traded to Geelong

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