Geelong coach Chris Scott was shocked to learn his star player Bailey Smith nearly missed Thursday night's clash with his former club due to a shin injury.
After a stellar performance against the Western Bulldogs, recording 33 disposals, seven tackles, six clearances and a whopping 810 metres gained, Smith revealed in the post-game that he wouldn't have played if it were any other rival.
The Cats, like the Bulldogs, were off a five-day break, and the 24-year-old didn't participate in the full training schedule during the week, instead partaking in an individual program.
"I'm glad I got through the game. I probably wasn't going to play if it wasn't the Bulldogs game," Smith told Fox Footy.
"So I had to jab my shin up, I reckon four times, at half-time and then before the game, so got up there somehow.
"Hopefully, I can pull up and try and get out there next week. I don't know."
Following the stirring 14-point win, Scott was stunned to hear his star recruit was in such pain, which led to the narrative that he may have struggled to face the Bulldogs.
"Bailey said that? Did you know about that, Mack?" Scott asked Mackie, who was in attendance at the post-match press conference.
"The fact that the coach and the GM of footy didn't know about it probably suggests it wasn't that serious. No, there was no issue in my mind, but again, maybe I don't always get all the information.
"We don't play players when there's a risk there. This was one where he was just going to be a bit sore but always confident that he was going to get through."
Smith's reunion with the Bulldogs was highly anticipated to be a fiery contest, with onlookers hoping the visitors would physically engage with their former teammate.
Tom Liberatore spent large amounts of time on the 24-year-old, but coach Luke Beveridge ensured that it wasn't the 'Smith Show', instead focusing on trying to win the game.
"Personalities didn't come into it," Beveridge said post-game.
"I didn't want us to be distracted, there's no use going out there and going over the top with a confrontational approach to something that we hadn't done previously, it wasn't going to help."
The Cats now have a nine-day break before they travel to Perth to take on West Coast, while the Western Bulldogs will enter the mid-season bye, before a rematch of last year's elimination final with Hawthorn on Thursday, June 5.
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="400px" width="1000px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
