Geelong coach Chris Scott says the club knew exactly what they were getting themselves into when Bailey Smith walked into Kardinia Park as the high-profile midfielder caused waves on Easter Monday.
Following on from a double-bird flipped at an Adelaide fan who directed comments toward Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield, Smith slammed the football into Hawthorn defender Jarman Impey's head during the club's victory.
Albeit "minor" in nature according to Scott, the 23-year-old is likely to receive a $1,000 fine for the act, with a precedent set 10 years ago when Richmond premiership player Alex Rance did the same thing.
"It was that minor, it's not even funny. Often it's the retaliator that cops the free kick against. Touching the footy on someone's face, I hope he [Impey] is OK. I think it's so minor that I wouldn't worry about it; we don't condone it, but we're much more interested in a pattern," Scott said.
"Even the fact I've spoken about it too much probably gives it too much airtime."
Smith joined Geelong as one of the most followed players in the AFL, boasting over 350,000 fans on his Instagram account.
The former Pick 7 has quickly become a cult-figure in the league, donning his long, blond hair and intoxicating footballing skills.
It's a ... manual falcon from Bailey Smith to Jarman Impey?#AFLCatsHawks pic.twitter.com/Bx7MLIZTwa
โ 7AFL (@7AFL) April 21, 2025
"We get that he's high profile, and I wouldn't necessarily coach anyone to behave exactly the way Bailey does, but he is what he is, and our job is to shape him," Scott continued.
"We knew he was going to come in and be a bit different to players that we've had in our system before, but we made a commitment to embrace it and help.
"He is 23, by the way, he is going to evolve. It's not just Bailey, we've got other guys that need to pick and choose their moments. He came off the ground, and the crowd is into him โ I don't buy into that much, but my suggestion is the crowd loved it, the AFL loved it, and I reckon Bailey loves it as well.
"If the suggestion is we should try and make him boring and vanilla then we will rail against it."
Scott also touched on crafty forward Gryan Miers, who was concussed following a swinging arm from Hawthorn's Conor Nash.
The Hawks can expect the MRO to hand down at least a three-match suspension.
But as for Miers, he's likely to miss the next two weeks, given the Cats have back-to-back six-day breaks.
He will enter a mandatory 12-day concussion protocol.
"Sometimes you come in and see a guy who is clearly still affected, which doesn't tell you everything, and other times you come in like today and they are fine," Scott said.
"He said he is fine. He was obviously a bit out of it for a while, but now he feels great. He might not be telling me the whole truth, but at least the signs are good."
