Bailey Smith has appeared to hit back at Mark Robinson after the footy reporter lashed out at the Geelong star and his team-mates, claiming their Mad Monday celebrations were ‘disgusting’ during a segment on AFL Trade Radio on Thursday.
Robinson, who even went as far as calling Smith a ‘pig’, also took aim at AFL general manager Greg Swann and CEO Andrew Dillon, for their decision not to punish the Geelong players.
In another bizarre twist of events, the AFL and show producers SEN, have seemingly cut his scathing criticism of the Cats and the league from podcasts of the live broadcast that have been published online.
The Herald Sun journalist had joined James Hird and Tom Morris to speak on this year’s trade period.
At approximately 41 minutes into the show, Morris reveals that Robinson would be joining the pair after a quick break, but when the show returned, a different segment had been pasted in, with Robinson’s brutal dig at Smith being scrubbed.
Daily Mail has contacted both the AFL and SEN, who produce the show for comment.
Bailey Smith has appeared to hit back at Mark Robinson (pictured) on Instagram, calling him ‘slobbo’ after the footy reporter blasted Smith on AFL Trade Radio for his Mad Monday antics
Smith (left, pictured with Patrick Dangerfield) has been criticised after the footy star appeared to make a reference to Brokeback Mountain on his Instagram during Geelong’s Mad Monday celebrations. The Geelong player had dressed in a western theme, before writing: ‘This is what losing a Granny does to ya,’ on his Instagram
Robinson also slammed Smith (right) for comments he made about respected footy journalist Caroline Wilson, after Max Holmes (left) dressed as Wilson during the party
While the group had been discussing the trade period, the conversation quickly switched to Geelong’s post-season function, where players had gathered in fancy dress outfits at Geelong’s Wharf Shed, while Smith published several posts on his Instagram that have been criticised by many within the footy world.
AFL general manager Greg Swann has since explained that the league was ‘not thrilled’ over Geelong’s Mad Monday antics but added that the AFL would be leaving the club to ‘deal with’ the situation, choosing not to directly punish the players. The Cats later issued a statement apologising, before stating that they would be educating their squad on expected standards.
But Robinson fired up at both the players and the AFL, stating on the live broadcast of Trade Radio: ‘Some of the players are really starting to s**t me.
‘I want to talk about Bailey Smith and everyone is going to call me a woke, silly old fool, but for Bailey Smith to abuse the photographer is one thing, that’s really poor.
‘For Bailey Smith to be a part of an Instagram photo with (Holmes dressed as) Caroline Wilson and put a (colloquially) semen emoji up there is one of the most disgusting things I’ve seen a player do.
‘If it was my mother, or my sister, or my wife … I can guarantee you myself and my three brothers would be going around to say hello to Bailey Smith.’
Max Holmes appeared to dress as Channel Seven journalist Caroline Wilson for the event, wearing a red dress, a wig and carrying a toy bow and arrow, a reference to the reporter’s Channel Nine segment ‘Caro’s Arrow’. Smith, meanwhile, dressed as Brad Pitt’s character, Tristan Ludlow, from the western film ‘Legends of the Fall’.
He appeared to pose for a photo in which he was seen embracing Patrick Dangerfield, who was also wearing a cowboy outfit. Smith, 22, later published the image on his Instagram account, adding a caption that made reference to the film Brokeback Mountain. He added: ‘This is what losing a Granny does to ya.
Robinson (pictured) hit out at the AFL for their lack of action over the star’s Instagram posts during Trade Radio on Thursday
Robinson was invited onto Trade Radio by Tom Morris (left) and James Hird (right) but producers of the show have since cut his brutally scathing rant of the AFL and Geelong from podcasts that have been published online
Smith also published an image of himself and Holmes, writing: ‘Caro has never looked better,’ adding a sweat droplets emoji, which is a symbol that also carries sexual connotations.
But Robinson didn’t hold back, taking a brutal swipe at Smith.
‘Who does he think he is to put a semen emoji on a photo of (Holmes dressed as) Caroline Wilson?’ he asked.
‘It’s not woke to call it out. It’s decency. Be a decent person. And for the AFL to allow that to go unpunished is one of the most disgusting inactions by the AFL in my time in football.
‘We can all laugh at Bailey Smith and say he’s just a young man, you can have fun without being a pig.’
Robinson wasn’t done there, with the footy writer then taking a shot at AFL CEO Andrew Dillon and Swann.
‘I’m disappointed in Greg Swann and in Andrew Dillon for allowing that to go through to the keeper without punishment,’ he added, before going on to claim that the league is letting players off the hook too lightly.
He used the reference of Clayton Oliver’s expletive-laden response to Channel 7’s Mitch Cleary last week as an example to claim that players are currently painting the league in a bad light.
Smith has copped criticism from some within the footy world with ex-Eagles player, Mitch Brown, who is the AFL’s first openly bisexual player, calling Smith ‘a loser’ and added ‘last time I checked losing a Grand Final doesn’t make you gay’
But others, including comedian Josh Thomas, have supported Smith: ‘Bringing people down is the least empowering way to find comfort in your queerness’
Thomas then published a message in which he stated ‘we’ve got to stop calling people that aren’t homophobic, homophobic’
‘I’ve been really disappointed. The Clayton Oliver stuff. Fair dinkum. Does the AFL understand that the whole country is watching their players act like absolute bozos and it’s a bad reflection on the AFL and the players where it’s f-n this and they drop c-bombs,’ he explained.
‘And I’ll say it again. Bailey Smith doing that to Caroline Wilson, and I’m no good friend of Caroline Wilson, but for him to do that to any woman is absolutely disgusting and the AFL did nothing. I cannot believe it.’
It appears Smith hasn’t taken to kindly to Robinson’s comments, taking to Instagram to post a picture on his story of the respected reporter, while captioning the image: ‘Slobbo, you are one naughty boy.’
In recent days, Smith has hit back at those who have criticised him for his Mad Monday posts.
It came after former West Coast Eagles star Mitch Brown – who recently made history by coming out as the AFL’s first openly bisexual player – criticised Smith on Instagram, writing: ‘Last time I checked, losing a Grand Final doesn’t make you gay, but being homophobic definitely makes you a loser.’
He had also published an image on Instagram of Heath Ledger, who played Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, writing: ‘Just for the record, Heath Ledger’s way hotter.’
Smith hit back by publishing a photo of Ledger sticking his finger up on his own Instagram. Meanwhile, openly gay Australian comedian, Josh Thomas, and others have jumped to the defence of Smith, telling people ‘to leave Bailey alone’.
‘We’ve got to stop calling people that aren’t homophobic, homophobic. It widens the divide and alienates people,’ Thomas said.
Geelong later published a statement apologising for the Mad Monday antics before revealing that they would be educating players on expected standards
‘It gets reported so loudly that it makes it look like queer people are oversensitive or are anti-fun. I don’t want our story hijacked like that!
‘He [Smith] never said losing the Grand Final makes you gay. That intention was insinuated by other people and then was ran with as raw fact.’
However, Caroline Wilson has hit out at the Geelong Cats midfielder, who came third in this year’s Brownlow Medal race.
Wilson didn’t take issue with Holmes’ costume but had wished he had let her know he’d be dressing as her but claimed Smith was a ‘ticking time bomb’.
‘I did have a problem with Smith’s social media post and an emoji my daughter had to explain to me. Judging from comments which came my way from people across the industry, the majority being women, I wasn’t alone,’ Wilson wrote.
‘This is not a case of professional outrage. How dare Smith get away with sending such an insulting and sexist message to aspiring females with strong opinions working in the media or elsewhere in the AFL,’ she said.
‘Speaking about the behaviour of AFL players through the lens of mental health can be tricky but Smith behaved on Monday like a selfish brat with no thought for the club nor those teammates who have defended and, on occasion, covered for him this season.’
Despite the backlash, Swann stated that the AFL would be leaving matters to Geelong.
AFL General Manager Greg Swann revealed the AFL had spoken to Geelong and told members of the media earlier this week that the club were ‘dealing with it’.
‘They’re actually dealing with it. We’ve always – well, certainly in my time – we think the clubs are the best people to deal with it, their players.
‘We’re not thrilled, obviously, with what happened – and nor are Geelong.
‘So they’re going to take some steps. I think there’ll be something coming out this afternoon around that.
‘And so we’ve pushed it down to them to deal with, so we’ve had some good chats to them about it.’
‘It’s hard to find people and they’ve all disappeared and they haven’t surfaced and things like that,’ he said.
‘So they’ve been doing a little bit of work in the background trying to sort that out.’
The Cats, meanwhile, have stated that ‘future post-season events will not continue in this current form.’
