Geelong coach Chris Scott has labelled Bailey Smith as an "outrageous success" despite the star's controversial social media presence and behaviour.
Smith was involved in an altercation with a photographer at training, and then also took aim through his online profile at veteran journalist Caroline Wilson, prompting the AFL to send a notice of warning.
Scott, who was announced as the Big V coach in next year's State of Origin clash against Western Australia, was quizzed on the communication between the league and the club regarding the 24-year-old.
"I'm aware that there was some communication," he said.
"I'm broadly supportive of the idea that the AFL and the clubs work together on these issues. We should be working collaboratively together, and that's actually been my experience behind the scenes.
"My suspicion is there's a bit of a disconnect around the perception of some of these issues and how they're being handled, and the actual reality."
Scott revealed he had spoken to Smith since the 2025 grand final loss to Brisbane, but would not delve into the intricacies of their conversation, opting to respect the privacy of their relationship.
"We almost wear it as a badge of honour that we don't consider our role as one of ownership of our players. That's just not the way we think about the world," Scott said.
"But there is an expectation that we will work together, hopefully as much as possible, as peers, to continually get better.
"Now, I hesitate to bring that sort of stuff up because it does give the impression of amplifying the current situation to a point where I don't think it is. I can't control what others might choose to amplify, but what I would say is we are really confident that it's in a really good spot.
"If you separate the off-field issues – that's probably the best way to describe it – and if we think through how the last 12 months have gone with Bailey, it's been an outrageous success. Outrageous, not perfect.
"But if you were privy to some of the information with a whole range of our players, I think it's likely that it's going to be a similar sort of description."
