Bailey Smith photo angers Western Bulldogs as AFL star captured in telling Geelong move

Bailey Smith's move from the Western Bulldogs to Geelong appears inevitable but his decision to sit in a section with people heavily involved in the Cats on the weekend still raised a few eyebrows. The Bulldogs recently confirmed Smith would be seeking pastures new in the off-season, with Geelong widely considered to be where the 23-year-old will land.

Smith has proven to be one of the AFL's most damaging midfielders when fit and firing but a ruptured ACL has seen him miss the entire 2024 season. The midfielder is out of contract at the end of this season and has made it clear that he wants to go elsewhere.

At the Cats' preliminary final last weekend, the 23-year-old was pictured surrounded by several people involved in the Geelong football club, including retiring Cats forward Tom Hawkins. He was also snapped chatting with family members of Ash Hardwick, who is connected to Cotton On, a company that is both Geelong's major sponsor and a brand Smith is an ambassador for.

And veteran journalist Caroline Wilson told Nine’s Footy Classified on Tuesday that it isn't a good look for Smith to be cozied up with several people connected to the Cats, while he is still contracted to the Bulldogs. "It didn’t go down too well with the Western Bulldogs when this photo appeared on social media," Wilson said.

“There’s Bailey Smith, there’s Tom Hawkins in the background. He’s sitting with family members of Ash Hardwick, one of the co-owners of Cotton On, a major sponsor at Geelong. Bailey Smith of course is a Cotton On ambassador. There’s no formal deal yet between Bailey Smith and Geelong, but it was unusual.”

Matthew Lloyd, however, wasn't surprised by it stating he has been with Cotton On for a while and had already told the Bulldogs that he doesn't want to be playing for them next season. "It is unusual but to me, his head has been with them (Cotton On) for 12 to 18 months, however long. It doesn’t surprise me because it seems he’s known he’s been leaving for a long time.”

Bailey Smith's Cotton On deal to come under the microscope

Smith - who started his AFL career in 2019 and quickly became one of the top midfielders in the league - has had plenty to do with Cotton On in the past few years. He first appeared as a model for the clothing brand in January 2022 and by September 2023, the 23-year-old had partnered up with them to create a fashion line he designed.

And if as expected he does join Geelong in the off-season, league officials are expected to go over his deal with a fine toothcomb. In 2012, the AFL changed the rules around third-party payments in direct response to Carlton star Chris Judd's role as an ambassador to the Visy packaging company.

Judd had joined Carlton in 2008 after leaving the Eagles and was also paid a rumoured $200,000 a year to be the face of Visy - a figure Judd's agent said was inaccurate. Visy boss Richard Pratt was the Carlton president at the time Judd signed and the Blues star collected both his AFL salary and a hefty income from the club's major sponsor.

This resulted in the AFL changing the rules in 2012, which meant clubs had to record any player sponsorship payment under the Additional Services Agreement. This essentially meant any deal outside the player's club salary still had to be recorded within the salary cap. However, that agreement was scrapped in 2015.

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Nowadays everything is means tested. It basically means that players can be paid six figures to be brand ambassadors but it needs to be backed up by the company's revenue numbers. For example, a player can't rake in $100,000 for doing a couple of shopfront appearances or footy clinics. Instead, they must show how they have added value to the company.

And while the AFL will almost certainly keep a close eye on Smith's deal with Geelong, he will almost certainly still be able to keep his Cotton On sponsorship. The main concern the AFL would have and would not allow is if his signing for Geelong is closely followed by his Cotton On deal creeping up a couple hundred thousand dollars.