Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has again addressed the future of his forgotten superstar Bailey Smith.
Smith has been out of AFL action this year with an ACL injury he suffered last December, and he is also out of contract.
Rumours have been swirling all season that he will depart the Bulldogs, with Geelong and Collingwood widely viewed as the frontrunners.
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Now Beveridge has also admitted that he is losing confidence on Smith remaining at the club the longer contract negotiations drag on.
“When a player hasn’t told you he is staying, as time goes on, your confidence levels start to wane a bit,” Beveridge told reporters on Friday.
Beveridge was asked if he would like clarity from Smith, but he said he wouldn’t force it.
“If it comes out early because that’s the player’s choice, then they’d let the club know,” he said.
“Sometimes there’s no certainty from the other end and players might have more than one option and they’re considering things.”
Beveridge insisted he had “a great relationship” with the highly popular Smith, who — at 23 years of age — is already one of the most marketable players in the AFL.
“So that’s not a concern of mine that I need to somehow fix something that isn’t an issue, but there are always some levers than you can grab onto and drag down …,” he said.
“The intentions and what the possibilities might be for the individual, they can never be black and white for the club that they’re playing at.”
Smith (aka Bazlenka, Baz, and Barry) was a No.7 draft pick in 2018 and made his debut the following season.
With his long flowing locks, hard running, and massive Instagram following, he quickly emerged as a star of the competition and has gone onto play 103 games for the Dogs.
After he was injured in December, Smith said he hoped he could still lift his teammates up from the sidelines.
Beveridge recently said on Channel 7’s Talking Footy that the club could only pray he remained in red, white and blue next year.
“I hope he is — I wouldn’t say ‘expect’,” Beveridge said.
“I think he’s got a lot to work through and we haven’t got our head in the sand, we know there (are) a number of clubs who Bailey appeals to.
“… if there’s a club or two or three that come to him with an astronomical deal, he may not be able to knock it back.”
Smith is not a free agent and any club interested in luring him away from the Bulldogs will need to agree on a trade, or risk walking him to the pre-season draft.
