{"id":227032,"date":"2025-10-20T08:36:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/227032\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T08:36:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T08:36:12","slug":"bailey-smith-hit-with-final-warning-by-afl-after-year-of-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/227032\/","title":{"rendered":"Bailey Smith hit with \u2018final warning\u2019 by AFL after year of controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bailey Smith is on his \u201cfinal warning\u201d from the AFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The controversial Geelong<\/a> midfielder has tested the patience of league headquarters throughout his first year at the Cats, which has included several indiscretions.<\/p>\n

Now, in a physical letter mailed to Smith and, the AFL has made it clear the 24-year-old Cat is out of lives.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today \"Download<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFL has finally put a line in the sand,\u201d Mitch Cleary told 7NEWS Melbourne on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmith\u2019s recent social media activity prompting the league to deliver him one final warning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe view from HQ is that a series of minor incidents now all add up to something much more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year alone, he was fined twice for flipping the bird in back-to-back games in April, he then hinted at the use of nose beers \u2014 or cocaine \u2014 via Instagram. That prompted a fireside chat with league boss Andrew Dillon at Smith\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast month, he abused a photographer at a Cats training session. There was the Mad Monday and subsequent social media controversy, before more late-night posts directed at Caroline Wilson and Mark Robinson after their commentary towards him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey Smith, Max Holmes and Patrick Dangerfield have come under fire along with Brad Close (not pictured). Credit: Instagram<\/p>\n

The AFL was \u201cnot thrilled\u201d with Geelong players\u2019 Mad Monday costumes and social media behaviour last month, with Smith having to delete multiple Instagram posts throughout the day.<\/p>\n

Neither Geelong nor Smith received any form of punishment for the antics, with the AFL opting to allow Geelong to deal with the problem themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe AFL tried to let Geelong take care of Smith, but enough is enough \u2014 a letter has been sent direct to Smith, his agent (Paul Connors), Cats CEO Steve Hocking, and footy boss Andrew Mackie,\u201d Cleary added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny further indiscretions from here will result in a fine or suspension.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geelong issued a statement in the aftermath of their Mad Monday gone wrong, declaring the iconic celebrations would not continue in their current form from 2026 onwards.<\/p>\n

\"BaileyBailey Smith has been under fire for several incidents this year. Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cGeelong Football Club sincerely apologises for the offence caused following our end of season gathering on Monday,\u201d a statement on the club\u2019s website said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertain costumes and associated social media posts were inappropriate and a significant error of judgment, and do not reflect our team of all commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club has decided future post season events will not continue in this current form, and we will take this moment to further educate our people on expectations and club and community standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was no specific mention of Smith, who was dressed as Legends of the Fall character Tristan Ludlow, played by Brad Pitt, while skipper Patrick Dangerfield\u2019s own cowboy costume was a nod to the TV show Yellowstone.<\/p>\n

Smith later posted a photo of himself and Dangerfield.<\/p>\n

In the caption, Smith referenced the movie Brokeback Mountain, which depicts a complex romantic relationship between two cowboys, and wrote \u201cthis is what losing a granny does to ya\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tammy Hembrow takes veiled swipe at Bailey Smith with fresh claim<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Bailey Smith deletes social media posts again in fresh drama<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bailey Smith is on his \u201cfinal warning\u201d from the AFL. The controversial Geelong midfielder has tested the patience…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":227033,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,13659,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-227032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-geelong-cats","14":"tag-sport","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}