The AFL have officially put Geelong on notice that star midfielder Bailey Smith faces punishment if he continues to post controversial content on social media.
The league wrote to Cats CEO Steve Hocking after Smith posted, then deleted, a thumbnail image from a nine-year-old episode of The Footy Show on YouTube, in which AFL personality Sam Newman verbally attacked Age football journalist Caroline Wilson.
Bailey Smith and Geelong players head out to warm up.Credit: Eddie Jim
Smith made the post just days after Wilson wrote a column criticising Smith for an offensive social media post during the Cats’ Mad Monday celebrations where Geelong best and fairest winner Max Holmes dressed as Wilson.
Wilson was also critical of the club’s decision to not publicly take action over Smith’s behaviour.
Smith had previously apologised via text to photographer Alison Wynd after he verbally abused her at training in the week after the Cats qualifying win over the Lions. Hocking also rang the photographer to apologise after that incident which was captured on camera.
The AFL’s view, according to competition sources who preferred to remain anonymous, was that although each incident may not in isolation deserve a sanction, the club needed to be aware a continued pattern of behaviour would be enough to warrant action.
The league believed the posting of the YouTube thumbnail was a sign Smith had not heeded the lesson from the Mad Monday incident despite the Cats’ efforts behind the scenes to educate the midfielder, who has been open about his mental health challenges.
The post came on the same day as Hocking told SEN the post relating to Wilson on Mad Monday was “completely unacceptable”. He said the club would speak to Smith about boundaries in his social media use.
“There will be a time, in my view, and this will involve all of us over the off-season whereby we need to,” Hocking said. “We are really early in the relationship.”
Smith had a brilliant first season on the field, making the All-Australian team, winning the AFL Coaches’ Association award, finishing second in the club’s best and fairest and third in the Brownlow Medal as the Cats made the grand final.
The Cats have been working hard behind the scenes to improve Smith’s off-field behaviour but have been careful to not criticise him publicly.
Geelong player Bailey Smith with AFL chief Andrew Dillon at the Brownlow Medal count.Credit: AFL Photos
He has been accepted into the playing group and has connected with fans but the slip-ups have made headlines and disappointed people both inside and outside the club.
Geelong coach Chris Scott has long railed against the effectiveness of club or AFL-imposed suspensions or fines in changing off-field behaviour.
The AFL and Geelong were contacted for comment.
The revelation comes after new GWS recruit and former Demon Clayton Oliver took a swipe at Nine journalist Tom Morris on social media, following comments Morris made on the network’s Footy Furnace program that referenced Oliver’s character, in discussing his trade from Melbourne.
Meanwhile, the Cats have made the difficult decision to not offer premiership midfielder, All-Australian and dual best and fairest winner Cam Guthrie a contract for 2026 after injury stopped him from making an AFL appearance this season.
Guthrie was a star for the Cats and a key player in their 2022 premiership, when he was joint best and fairest winner. But ankle and Achilles issues have restricted him to just 10 AFL games in three seasons since that flag.
Guthrie made his debut in Scott’s first game as coach and played 240 games, beginning as a defender and developing into an ultra-reliable midfielder.
He was instrumental in Mark Blicavs arriving at the club and his brother Zach developing into an excellent defender. Both played alongside him in the 2022 premiership.
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