Bailey Smith has addressed his curious Brownlow Medal night, in which he arrived late and left early but finished outright second in the meantime, polling 36 votes.
The Geelong star arrived at Crown Palladium one week after a shoulder operation which will keep him away from full contact training until after Christmas.
But the two-time All-Australian is confident he will have recovered in time for Round 1, 2027.
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“I left a bit early too,” Smith said at Telstra’s player hub.
“It’s just annoying with this (my shoulder). Originally, I wasn’t coming and then the AFL was good to me, and I got to park in some weird little park.
“Then I took the lift straight up to the room. I had to be in the room at 7.45, got changed at like 7.30 and did a photo thing and then straight in.”
AFL boss Andrew Dillon was diplomatic when asked on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters about Smith’s low-key Brownlow night.
The 25-year-old Smith spoke as part of his ambassadorial role for Telstra on Wednesday morning at the AFL’s live site.
Thousands of young, passionate footy fans lined up to meet their heroes, with Marcus Bontempelli and Patrick Cripps also in attendance.
“It’s great to see so many kids here,” Smith said.
“Telstra does a great job helping so many footballers — boys and girls — around the country on what is a really important issue, plus their grants for local clubs genuinely makes a huge difference.
“Telstra has also done a lot from a mental health support perspective this year and that is why they are one of the best brands to work with.”
Smith was also delighted to discuss the impending arrival of Toby Greene, who nominated Geelong last week as an unrestricted free agent.
“We’ve obviously got Toby looking to come across and we will have a few others,” he said.
“I sent him a message straight away saying ‘mate, let’s get a flag next year!’”
On other key issues, the Geelong star declared Lachie Neale should “absolutely” be free to play after receiving a one-week ban for striking, and confirmed he hopes Fremantle win the Grand Final after the Dockers beat Geelong in a semi-final.
“It would make me feel a bit better about that loss if the Dockers won,” he laughed.
