Geelong Cats star’s verbal spray at Alison Wynd crossed the line

Only one person displayed aggro at Geelong training on Wednesday.

It wasn’t photographer Alison Wynd taking photos of training – after being invited in by the club.

It wasn’t the executives or board members who greeted people warmly in the Cats’ cafe before the session.

It wasn’t the staff and assistant coaches who interact with locals every day in the regional town of Geelong.

It wasn’t players, also members of the community, who had to deal with questions about that aggro when they should have been talking about an upcoming preliminary final.

It wasn’t the CEO, who contacted the photographer to apologise (which, by the way, is something the person responsible for the aggro should have done).

It wasn’t the media team, which is working hard to find the right balance between accessibility and letting players and staff get on with their core jobs.

I was there. The warmth at the club was obvious and has been for generations.

The only person who chose the aggro path was Bailey Smith.

He was the only one who crossed the boundaries of civility. Those boundaries are necessary to avoid unnecessary drama around the whole unusual interaction that occurs daily between athletes and everyone else in professional sport.

No potential defence stacks up.

Why did he choose to pick on a local photographer who has done her job well and without drama for 25 years?

If he wanted privacy for the massage, get it done inside the rooms. Or head to Mars (Stadium).

If that wasn’t possible and it was an issue, ask a media official or football manager whether the photographer could refrain from taking a photo at that point.

If Smith was having a bad day, that’s life.

I can bet with certainty there were people within the stadium that day who had personal battles of their own.

We all want Smith to feel well, given the mental health struggles he has shared.

But having mental health issues doesn’t mean anyone should get a pass for bad behaviour. That’s a stereotype better left to history.

So it comes back to a basic question: why?

It would be the same question you would ask a mate if he turned up at your party and abused one of your lifelong friends.

If he or she then wondered why you were making such a fuss, then you wouldn’t invite them back.

Perhaps Smith just has a reality TV star’s penchant for drama, and we are all being played.

But Wynd, the News Corp photographer, was not being intrusive. She wasn’t doorstopping, nor pointing her lens into a space thousands of cameras haven’t been before.

Still, Smith treated her like a paparazzi photographer, using demeaning language to show his disdain. It was, to use a word Jack Ginnivan deployed well when doorstopped in Adelaide, embarrassing.

It’s not as though media people wilt either. Wynd and others are used to the cut and thrust that comes with being in this business. But we all know when a line is crossed.

It would be unfair to write that Geelong have let Smith get away with this sort of petulance. They are working hard to shift his behaviour in the right direction, as the Western Bulldogs did before them.

Geelong are choosing to do so in the background rather than via a public dressing down or punitive measures. That’s fine. I respect that strategy.

But the Cats’ brand, one they have been working hard to maintain, is taking a hit as a result.

Everyone knows Smith’s form on the field has people inside the club contorting themselves to explain his positive attributes, of which, it must be said, there are many.

That is unfortunate because the players are among the finer groups in the competition, respected within the community and outside the club, a legacy built over 20 years at least. They continue to look after their mate and he could show some gratitude for that.

The best way to do that is through his actions.

Coach Chris Scott is in a tough position too, but his intent is to help Smith through rather than bow to the baying mob, who want Smith to pay publicly. It’s a strength of Scott’s and preferable to the punitive approach the AFL takes.

However, he can no longer rate Smith’s season a 10/10 because that well-meaning show of support doesn’t pass the pub test – or any other test for that matter, although I respect his obligation to defend his player.

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Smith won’t be the first or the last with a dim view of the mainstream media, particularly as the world fragments. But if he’s smart, he will learn how to deal with people inside a stadium a community built.

Because when mainstream media are invited into GMHBA Stadium, they don’t leave their phones or cameras in a basket at the front door.

Right now, Smith’s big-city attitudes aren’t going down well.

Geelong want to embrace him. For the most part, they have. They want to protect him from intrusion as he tries to enjoy the best the coast has to offer. He’s helping them in the quest for a premiership and is a Brownlow chance.

None of us are immune to mistakes. And given the drama going on in the rest of the world, this error of judgment can be forgiven if progress is being made. But with Smith, a pattern is more apparent than progress.

Someone around Smith needs to ask him a question in language he will understand.

What the f--- are you doing?

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