AFL 2025: Geelong Cats confident in management of Bailey Smith’s behaviour after Mad Monday posts
Michael Barnett OAM
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Peter Ryan and Michael Gleeson
first published at 4.31pm
Senior Essendon players approached the AFL Players Association after club leaders including CEO Craig Vozzo and coach Brad Scott spoke to the playing group at a meeting before the mid-season bye in June where information relating to the illicit drugs policy was discussed.
The tone of the meeting left players uncertain about whether confidential information was being passed on to club officials other than the club doctor from the AFL, according to two competition sources with knowledge of the matter who preferred to stay anonymous.
Several players also felt the tone of the meeting was heavy-handed as they prepared to go on their break. Some players also wondered whether the presence of the senior coach and the CEO at the meeting was appropriate given the conversation related to the players’ health.
Essendon fans find their voice early in the season.Getty Images
The AFLPA met with the Bombers about the players’ concerns and counselled club officials on how they communicate information around the drugs policy. The Players’ Association was comfortable there had been no breach of AFL rules or disclosure of confidential information. There is also no suggestion the meeting was held due to concerns about player behaviour.
The club accepted the feedback with all parties comfortable that the motivation for the meeting was to ensure the health and wellbeing of their playing group was their priority, particularly with such a young list having introduced close to 20 new players to their club.
Vozzo has been an advocate of the illicit drugs policy and the welfare model which has been in place for close to two decades. It is not unusual for clubs to give their players a reminder about the need to behave and look after themselves ahead of a break.
Cats confident in their management of Bailey Smith’s behaviour
Geelong football boss Andrew Mackie says he won’t go into conversations the club is having with Bailey Smith about his behaviour after the Cats’ were forced to apologise for the offence caused during their Mad Monday celebrations last week.
The Cats released a statement last Wednesday after receiving backlash for the social media posts Smith made two days earlier that were perceived as sexist and homophobic.
The issue came after Smith abused a female photographer at training before the club’s preliminary final.
Cats captain Patrick Dangerfield with Bailey Smith.AFL Photos via Getty Images
Then, two days after losing the grand final Smith posted a photo of himself with teammate Max Holmes, who was dressed as Age football journalist Caroline Wilson. Smith’s caption, which he then deleted, was accompanied by an offensive emoji.
In a column for this masthead, Wilson condemned Smith’s behaviour and described the Cats’ response as “pathetic”. She also reported that key Geelong officials did not know of Smith’s whereabouts between Mad Monday and Thursday’s best and fairest count.
“This is not a case of professional outrage. How dare Smith get away with sending such an insulting and sexist message to aspiring females with strong opinions working in the media or elsewhere in the AFL,” Wilson wrote.
Smith also posted a photo of himself with Patrick Dangerfield, both dressed as cowboys, with a caption that was condemned by members of the LBGTQ community.
Mackie conceded on Monday the club was not perfect, saying the players would be further educated on what was acceptable.
Asked whether the club was confident in its management of Smith and about the report that the club wasn’t aware of his whereabouts after Mad Monday, he said:
“Really confident. Yeah, really confident. No, that wasn’t all factual. I was aware what he was up to, but like I said, I get the interest in Bailey. But him playing footy this year is a real success story for the game. As I said, we’re all not perfect. We’ve just got to continue to keep working together and those little moments that might bubble away, we’ve just got to keep educating.”
Asked again about how the Cats were managing Smith, Mackie said, “it’s not our style to communicate to media about how we talk to our players and work through that stuff”.
The disappointed Cats watch on at the medal presentation after losing the grand final to Brisbane.Getty Images
Smith finished runner-up in the club best and fairest, third in the Brownlow Medal and earned All-Australian selection in a brilliant comeback from a knee reconstruction. He also retrospectively revealed that mental health battles last year led to him voluntarily admitting himself to Epworth’s mental health facility for a month.
However, a series of incidents involving Smith has led to questions about how the Cats have handled him off the field.
The AFL’s executive general manager of football performance Greg Swann told ABC radio on Sunday he didn’t think the matter had been completely resolved.
“I don’t think it has finished yet either. I think there are still some discussions and conversations happening, so hopefully it will all be dealt with and we can move on hopefully,” Swann said.
Dangerfield, Geelong’s captain, also apologised at the club’s best and fairest count on Thursday night, admitting the players got it wrong at the normally lighthearted end-of-season celebration.
“We’re not perfect,” Mackie said. “We don’t stand here and pretend to be. When you’ve got a playing list and staff like us, there’s no finished product. We’re a work in progress all across the board, as a club, like everyone probably should be. We’re no different. Every now and then, there are things that pop up that ideally [wouldn’t]. But we can only learn [and] educate from here our players and our people.”
