Wantaway Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith says he ‘still loves’ the club despite his recent trade request.
Speaking at the EJ Whitten Grand Final Legends lunch as a panellist alongside manager Paul Connors as well as AFL great Ben Cousins, commentator Gerard Whateley and Bulldogs board member and prominent media figure Luke Darcy, Smith opened up on how his season away from football after rupturing his ACL in December reinvigorated his passion for the game.
“I could sort of resent all the headlines I’ve had, all the not so good stuff I’ve done, or the pressure that comes with the way you have to look, all that sort of s–t, but it’s also made me learn to value less superficial stuff,” Smith said, via the Herald Sun.
“I just go for a kick during the week and just learn to love footy at its barest. I kick the footy with my Dad and try to fall in love with the game again, because I did fall out of love with it for a bit.
“And it’s taken an injury to really, really love it and miss it again because it can get clouded by everything that’s happening.”
After months of speculation, Smith, comfortably the most-followed AFL footballer on Instagram, officially requested a trade from the Bulldogs after their season was ended with an elimination final loss to Hawthorn.
While the 23-year old is seen as all but certain to nominate Geelong as his preferred destination, having reportedly raised the ire of Bulldogs officials by being seen sitting with Cats players during their preliminary final loss to Brisbane, he is yet to officially declare his intentions, with Connors saying he is ‘still working through’ Smith’s future.
Speaking on the panel, Smith said he ‘still loves the club’, but that he had ‘outgrown’ the Whitten Oval.
“I still love the club – that’s what people forget,” Smith said of the Bulldogs.
Bailey Smith. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
“But there’s a level of when you outgrow a place, or you just need a fresh change for whatever reason.
“I still love them [his Bulldogs teammates], they’re still my mates. I won’t get too deep into it.
“I feel like I’d be doing myself a disservice for the player I want to become and the person I want to become by staying in the same environment, but we’ll see.”
Co-panellist Darcy, whose son Sam is a teammate of Smith’s at the Bulldogs, joked ‘Jeremy Cameron and two first-round picks’ would be his asking price for the talented midfielder, who burst into prominence with a dominant 2021 finals series in the Bulldogs’ run to the grand final.
“He is a young superstar – the most marketable player in the game,” Darcy said.
The AFL Trade Period begins on Monday, October 7, with Smith’s trade set to be drawn out in the wake of recent revelations the Bulldogs and Cats are yet to officially discuss a move.
The Dogs are expected to ask for more than Geelong’s first-round draft pick, which currently sits at 15 but is expected to slide due to Academy and father-son selections further up the order, including for future Brisbane Lion and potential No.1 draft pick Levi Ashcroft.