It’s been a whirlwind year for Geelong newcomer Bailey Smith.
After swapping the Kennel for the Cattery in the off-season, the midfielder has enjoyed one of his best seasons in the AFL yet, and is well in the mix to win this year’s Brownlow Medal.
In fact, Smith has already been recognised for his excellent vein of form, with the footy star, who is dating fitness influencer Tammy Hembrow, being selected as part of this year’s All-Australian team and also received the AFL Coaches’ Award Champion Player of the Year.
The 24-year-old’s excellent form this season comes a year after he had spent the entire 2024 campaign on the sidelines, recovering from a torn ACL.
The footy star has averaged 31.7 disposals so far this season, notably amassing a career best, 43 disposals during his side’s victory against North Melbourne in Round 20.
As with many great players, preparation is vital to ensuring they are in the right frame of mind and physical condition to ensure they can perform at their best.
One of Bailey Smith’s team-mates has revealed the bizarre pre-match ritual the former Bulldogs star performs to help him play at his best
According to Tom Stewart, Smith (pictured) headbutts a wall before he goes out to play, and hearing the sound of him banging his head against the wall tells the rest of the team he is ready to play
The 24-year-old has enjoyed an excellent return to footy this season after he was ruled out for the 2024 campaign with an ACL injury
And some of Smith’s new Geelong team-mates have opened up on some of the bizarre measures the former Bulldogs midfielder will take to get himself psyched up for a match.
While Tom Stewart was largely unsurprised by Smith’s brilliance on the footy field, he revealed that his new team-mate likes to ‘headbutt’ a wall before running out to play.
‘When he headbutts the wall of the team room, I sort of know he’s about to go,’ Stewart said.
‘It’s a pretty good sign when you hear a couple of bangs against the plaster, like: “Yep, Baz is ready to go”’.’
Smith has earned great respect and trust among the Cats cohort for his work rate and efforts at the beginning of the season to recover from that horrific ACL injury, notably dragging the likes of Max Holmes, Shannon Neale and Ollie Dempsey with him to complete recovery work.
‘I think he showed them the way with his work ethic over the summer months,’ Stewart said.
It comes as Smith opened up last week on how he checked into a mental wellness facility for four weeks last year as he battled through the knee injury that had threatened to derail his promising AFL career.
During Wednesday’s AFL Awards night, Smith courageously opened up on the decision to enter the psych ward and has since been praised for his honesty by many, including his team-mate Stewart.
Smith is also currently dating social media influencer Tammy Hembrow (pictured)
The footy star has been hailed this week after he opened up on his mental health struggles last year after he recovered from his ACL injury
‘He’s had a fair bit to work through personally, and I don’t think [what he outlined] is a reflection of where he’s at now,’ Stewart explained.
‘I think the open honesty that he sort of showed was in the past. He’s put a lot of work into that space, and it’s no mistake his form on the field [has been excellent]. He came down here with this insatiable appetite to work.’
He added: ‘So in terms of the mental aptitude and that sort of stuff, he’s done the work and I’m not surprised by the form that he’s showed on the field, because he works as hard as anybody I’ve ever seen.’
‘We’ve built a really strong relationship and a great rapport and we’ve spent a bit of time together and I can only applaud his honesty and his rawness to come out and put that out there in front of a mass audience.’
All eyes have been on the 24-year-old midfielder of late after it emerged that he was dating social media influencer Hembrow.
The fitness influencer, 31, shared a moment from their date night this week, with the pair heading out for dinner.
In the picture, Smith, who can be seen eating a huge steak, was seen resting his hand on Hembrow’s leg, as they enjoyed a couple of drinks wwith their meal at Entrecote in Prahran.
Rumours of their relationship had been sparked earlier this winter, after they were seen out in public linking arms and embracing. In fact, they were recently seen on the Gold Coast enjoying a quick smooch while they walked up and down a beach.
Stewart (pictured) also hailed Smith for how he has dealt with those personal matters, lauding him for his honesty
The footy heartthrob (pictured) is one of the biggest names in the sport and while Stewart was getting to know his new team-mate, he admitted that he wasn’t totally shocked by the publicity Smith garnered
The footy heartthrob is one of the biggest names in the sport and while Stewart was getting to know his new team-mate, he admitted that he wasn’t totally shocked by the publicity Smith garnered.
‘It’s surprised me, but it didn’t at the same time. From the outside looking in, I didn’t pay close attention when he wasn’t at the club of, you know, the things he was up to,’ Stewart said.
‘But he’s a boisterous personality.
‘He’s everything you see, and he puts it all out there, which I have a massive amount of respect for.’