Rumour Bailey Smith avoids being drafted interstate by way of medical reason

[1990crow]

Reportedly told non Victorian clubs he only wanted to stay in Victoria. And got a doctors certificate saying it would be bad for his mental health.

Where’s the investigation by the AFL for draft tampering?
Will Bailey forgo insterstate matches?

 

[Baird]

It isn’t draft tampering if he got a doctors certificate

 

[hamohawk1]

F*** me the entitlement of some of these young kids/players.

 

[tigertigertiger]

will have to be a 1 club player, who would want him with that self entitled attitude?

 

[La Dispute]

I dunno why it's so taboo to just say 'I don't want to leave Victoria.' The club can still take the player anyway, but at least in this situation they are aware of the risk the player carries. Far better to just take players who are happy to go there than lose those players two years down the track, and for less trade value.

Pissweak by Bailey if true, but definitely sounds like a BS Bigfooty rumour.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

will have to be a 1 club player, who would want him with that self entitled attitude?

I dont know if it's true, but I think it's unlikely any club will be pleased they drafted him in the long run if it is.

Would be interesting to know if said doctor thought entering the AFL system with it's huge pressures on youngsters was a good idea.

 

[The Warlord]

Hmmm, very interesting if true. Dogs certainly let it be known they "could" trade the pick, but were never going to.

Looks like they locked him down good. Well played.

Shame our attempt to drive Tarryn Thomas price down didn't work.

 

[ManOfClay]

Reportedly? Where is this reported?

At least he reportedly went through some effort. Players like Wingard just told clubs he didn’t want to go.


Way to also trivialise his reported mental health. Reportedly.

 

[SnusCG]

I dunno why it's so taboo to just say 'I don't to leave Victoria.' The club can still take the player anyway, but at least in this situation they are aware of the risk the player carries. Far better to just take players who are happy to go there than lose those players two years down the track, and for less trade value.

Pissweak by Bailey if true, but definitely sounds like a BS Bigfooty rumour.

that’s the issue though. There should not be any risk involved at all. These guys are supposed to be professional athletes and they’re earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, plus they get to remain in their home country. If they were playing any other elite sport in the world they would likely be living in a different country by the age of 16 - 18. If you can’t handle living a 2-3 hour flight away from home while earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year playing at the highest level of your chosen sport, then don’t sign up for the AFL, play VFL or whatever state league is closest to you.

It’s not ‘good’ that they’re being honest about not wanting to move interstate. It shouldn’t be happening at all.

 

[La Dispute]

Way to also trivialise his reported mental health. Reportedly.

If the report is true then actually it's Bailey Smith trivialising his own mental health.

How can someone accurately predict what impact moving interstate is going to have on their emotional state? Unless Smith has moved interstate before and experienced emotional turmoil because of it there's a shitload of projection and inference on his behalf.

 

[estibador]

If his mental health is that fragile he's probably chosen the wrong career.

 

[La Dispute]

that’s the issue though. There should not be any risk involved at all. These guys are supposed to be professional athletes and they’re earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, plus they get to remain in their home country. If they were playing any other elite sport in the world they would likely be living in a different country by the age of 16 - 18. If you can’t handle living a 2-3 hour flight away from home while earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year playing at the highest level of your chosen sport, then don’t sign up for the AFL, play VFL or whatever state league is closest to you.

It’s not ‘good’ that they’re being honest about not wanting to move interstate. It shouldn’t be happening at all.

You're talking about 18 year old kids, who will all experience moving away from home differently, especially moving to a place that isn't footy-centric. You can't compare AFL players to other sporting codes, because the reality is they don't earn anywhere as much, and sports like Basketball and American Football are followed all over the country.

Surely you can see why a kid from metropolitan Melbourne doesn't want to land up playing for the Gold Coast, even putting performance aside?

 

[GroggSquad]

Reportedly? Where is this reported?

At least he reportedly went through some effort. Players like Wingard just told clubs he didn’t want to go.


Way to also trivialise his reported mental health. Reportedly.

Confirmed s**t bloke...



I'm sure Lin Jong wouldn't be too rapt about this.

 

[Pykie]

Reportedly told non Victorian clubs he only wanted to stay in Victoria. And got a doctors certificate saying it would be bad for his mental health.

Where’s the investigation by the AFL for draft tampering?
Will Bailey forgo insterstate matches?

They did step in.

They sent a memo to all player managers reminding them that it was a national comp.

They almost stepped in officially over it with an investigation according to Twomey.

 

[The Warlord]

Reportedly? Where is this reported?

At least he reportedly went through some effort. Players like Wingard just told clubs he didn’t want to go.


Way to also trivialise his reported mental health. Reportedly.

Also, given all the stuff about how driven he is, surely he would have worked through moving interstate as a real possibility.

 

[RUNVS]

Confirmed s**t bloke...

View attachment 588134

I'm sure Lin Jong wouldn't be too rapt about this.

Low level racism, but still racism.

 

[nameless]

He's entitled to that request, we don't know his personal issues and to be honest it's none of our business.

This kid could have a sick family member who he doesn't want to leave. He could suffer from depression or other mental disorders.
That doesn't preclude him from wanting to play AFL, he clearly has talent if he's getting drafted.

I don't see much of a 'draft tampering' element given there are 10 clubs that can still select him.

 

[1990crow]

They did step in.

They sent a memo to all player managers reminding them that it was a national comp.

They almost stepped in officially over it with an investigation according to Twomey.

Then why didn’t he get disqualified from the draft?

 

[Lensen]

don't really have a view on this either way, but do find it odd one of the benefits of the academies is that NSW and QLD clubs can market to elite juniors that they can play for their local club yet this is so frowned upon

 

[Underarm]

that’s the issue though. There should not be any risk involved at all. These guys are supposed to be professional athletes and they’re earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, plus they get to remain in their home country. If they were playing any other elite sport in the world they would likely be living in a different country by the age of 16 - 18. If you can’t handle living a 2-3 hour flight away from home while earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year playing at the highest level of your chosen sport, then don’t sign up for the AFL, play VFL or whatever state league is closest to you.

It’s not ‘good’ that they’re being honest about not wanting to move interstate. It shouldn’t be happening at all.

Which is fine if all states are contributing their fair share of players and success.

Also, the AFL isn't the European Soccer leagues. Those players earn 10x as much, and despite moving countries could still end up being closer to home (and cheaper).

 

[Anja_Nees]

I will say it’s great that our club clearly doesn’t discriminate based on mental health issues.

 

[RUNVS]

I will say it’s great that our club clearly doesn’t discriminate based on mental health issues.

Boyd, Schache and Smith is quite a lot of players with mental health issues.

 

[Anja_Nees]

Boyd, Schache and Smith is quite a lot of players with mental health issues.

Cloke previously too.

 

[Isaac Cumming No 1]

don't really have a view on this either way, but do find it odd one of the benefits of the academies is that NSW and QLD clubs can market to elite juniors that they can play for their local club yet this is so frowned upon

I dont think we do actually.
The aim is actually to create AFL players. Guys like Walker would be right to feel miffed if we did. There are many others with other clubs. Not every youngster will want to play for us anyway.
And yes we do take advantage of the academy whenever we can.

 

[Happy Idiot]

Surely you can see why a kid from metropolitan Melbourne doesn't want to land up playing for the Gold Coast, even putting performance aside?

An eighteen year old brain clearly wouldn't understand the idea that they are walking into an organisation, and they can play a pivotal role in either helping or hindering its future and growth — nationally.

Bailey's brain chose to hinder.