I don't know which hand, but I'm hearing he has quite a headache after celebrating his birthday. Not that I'm suggesting you cut off your head - just keeping you apprised of the situation
Training Alright, alright, alright! Its the 2022 Pre-season training thread.
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This is starting to get complicated.
Let’s hope ‘tis but a scratch that is ailing Baz.
Star Western Bulldog Bailey Smith has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the club
The Western Bulldogs have granted star midfielder Bailey Smith an indefinite leave of absence from the club.
Western Bulldogs cult figure Bailey Smith is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the club for personal reasons.
The 21-year-old midfielder is completing his training remotely but football boss and club great Chris Grant is confident Smith’s preparation for next season won’t be impeded.
The Bulldogs also allowed Western Australian pair Tim English and Aaron Naughton and South Australian Caleb Daniel to train interstate pre-Christmas because of Covid-19 border uncertainty.
Smith’s circumstances are different to that trio as he focuses on personal issues, including but not restricted to private family matters.
“We remain in close contact with Bailey, and we respect and understand his need to spend some time away from the club at the moment,” Grant said.
“With such a short training block before the Christmas break for the AFL squad; we are comfortable to afford Bailey the time he needs.
“We’ll support him throughout, and he’ll return when he is ready.
“Bailey has maintained an extremely high level of physical conditioning throughout his entire career, and we’re looking forward to reintegrating him into the program at the appropriate time.”
Smith is known as an obsessive and dedicated trainer and has not missed a match in his first three seasons since the Dogs selected him seventh overall in the star-studded 2018 AFL Draft.
He has dethroned Richmond superstar Dustin Martin as the most-followed AFL footballer on Instagram with 355,000 and has become one of the most recognised players in the game.
But Smith told the Common Chaos podcast in October that there were mental health challenges which came with his overnight fame.
He revealed he had dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, difficulty sleeping and even eating disorder symptoms as he adapts to fans wanting to know his every move.
“I acknowledge (the attention), I know it’s there, it is the elephant in my brain, but I ignore it as much as I can,” Smith said.
“The things that ground me each day – I go get my coffee, going to the beach from 10 until 2, my best friends, getting dinner. I focus on what I want to do each day and what I want to get out of myself.
“I don’t open up that much, because I’m scared of being judged – and it’s just something that’s got to do with me.
“Fear of just being taken advantage of, as well. You can’t just open up to anyone, so I don’t do that, but it’s been so refreshing over the past couple of days just to talk to you guys and not feel alone.
“There are so many people around you wanting this and that from you; it’s so easy to feel empty inside, as dark as that sounds.”
Smith was involved in an alleged incident at Burleigh Pavilion on the Gold Coast in the days after the Bulldogs’ grand final loss.
A man complained to police about being pushed but neither the club nor police took further action.
The Western Bulldogs have granted star midfielder Bailey Smith an indefinite leave of absence from the club.
Western Bulldogs cult figure Bailey Smith is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the club for personal reasons.
The 21-year-old midfielder is completing his training remotely but football boss and club great Chris Grant is confident Smith’s preparation for next season won’t be impeded.
The Bulldogs also allowed Western Australian pair Tim English and Aaron Naughton and South Australian Caleb Daniel to train interstate pre-Christmas because of Covid-19 border uncertainty.
Smith’s circumstances are different to that trio as he focuses on personal issues, including but not restricted to private family matters.
“We remain in close contact with Bailey, and we respect and understand his need to spend some time away from the club at the moment,” Grant said.
“With such a short training block before the Christmas break for the AFL squad; we are comfortable to afford Bailey the time he needs.
“We’ll support him throughout, and he’ll return when he is ready.
“Bailey has maintained an extremely high level of physical conditioning throughout his entire career, and we’re looking forward to reintegrating him into the program at the appropriate time.”
Smith is known as an obsessive and dedicated trainer and has not missed a match in his first three seasons since the Dogs selected him seventh overall in the star-studded 2018 AFL Draft.
He has dethroned Richmond superstar Dustin Martin as the most-followed AFL footballer on Instagram with 355,000 and has become one of the most recognised players in the game.
But Smith told the Common Chaos podcast in October that there were mental health challenges which came with his overnight fame.
He revealed he had dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, difficulty sleeping and even eating disorder symptoms as he adapts to fans wanting to know his every move.
“I acknowledge (the attention), I know it’s there, it is the elephant in my brain, but I ignore it as much as I can,” Smith said.
“The things that ground me each day – I go get my coffee, going to the beach from 10 until 2, my best friends, getting dinner. I focus on what I want to do each day and what I want to get out of myself.
“I don’t open up that much, because I’m scared of being judged – and it’s just something that’s got to do with me.
“Fear of just being taken advantage of, as well. You can’t just open up to anyone, so I don’t do that, but it’s been so refreshing over the past couple of days just to talk to you guys and not feel alone.
“There are so many people around you wanting this and that from you; it’s so easy to feel empty inside, as dark as that sounds.”
Smith was involved in an alleged incident at Burleigh Pavilion on the Gold Coast in the days after the Bulldogs’ grand final loss.
A man complained to police about being pushed but neither the club nor police took further action.
- Oct 13, 2017
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Sounds like he’s got some family stuff going on. Hopefully he’ll be right.
I have zero worries about his physical condition. He’s a pro.
I have zero worries about his physical condition. He’s a pro.
- Sep 7, 2015
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I suspect that Bailey is having second thoughts about a career in football now and I'll explain why:
His popularity is unprecedented in footy. He has the biggest following of any footballer in history and that has nothing to do with his footballing ability. That kind of star power essentially guarantees a golden ticket through life. If you had that kind of golden ticket, would you really want to spend a decade putting your body through punishment, risking CTE and early onset arthritis, joint issues etc. that athletes deal with later in life. For what? 10 mil? And don't say sponsorships because he can get that doing literally anything else.
Why wouldn't you take your chances in Hollywood or something where you can earn hundreds of millions without taking years off your life? He already has an in there with the Hemsworth brothers. He could be in the next Marvel movie. The guy is a genuine superstar. Listen to his teammates talk about how they've never seen anything like the Bailey phenomenon in footy.
His popularity is unprecedented in footy. He has the biggest following of any footballer in history and that has nothing to do with his footballing ability. That kind of star power essentially guarantees a golden ticket through life. If you had that kind of golden ticket, would you really want to spend a decade putting your body through punishment, risking CTE and early onset arthritis, joint issues etc. that athletes deal with later in life. For what? 10 mil? And don't say sponsorships because he can get that doing literally anything else.
Why wouldn't you take your chances in Hollywood or something where you can earn hundreds of millions without taking years off your life? He already has an in there with the Hemsworth brothers. He could be in the next Marvel movie. The guy is a genuine superstar. Listen to his teammates talk about how they've never seen anything like the Bailey phenomenon in footy.
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Malaka
Dogs_R_Us
Space Traveller
I suspect he needs to sort out his priorities going forward. The sex-symbol publicity stuff is getting out of hand. He’s too young to have to deal with online soliciting, ridiculous offers from people who only want to exploit him and ruin him. None of our previous players have ever had to deal with anything like the attention Bailey is getting, and much of it has nothing to do with football.
- Mar 24, 2018
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He could do a lot to really help himself out. The frenzy that surrounds him would die down considerably if he stopped posting half naked pictures of himself. I really don’t get why he does it.
Dogs_R_Us
Space Traveller
It just shows me that social media to some young people is like a drug. It has a grip on young Bailey to the extent that he doesn’t know how to stop it without forgoing some lucrative sponsorships, which probably have iron-clad conditions attached. I blame his management for setting him up. It’s obviously doing his head in.
Dannnnnnnnnn
Moderator
- Aug 24, 2012
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I get that it's a discussion forum but I feel like we can probably do without the amateur psychoanalysis and speculation on the mental health of one of our players. Not directed at anyone in particular, just addressing the vibe over the last few pages as well as past experiences with others. We've been told he's away from the club indefinitely dealing with personal and private family circumstances, and I feel like that's enough until (/if) something changes?
I wish him all the best. It can't be easy dealing with normal human experiences while in the limelight.
I wish him all the best. It can't be easy dealing with normal human experiences while in the limelight.
- May 23, 2019
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And Baz is very good at that already.
- Aug 18, 2015
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You should take up that option yourself
- Aug 18, 2015
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Yeah but your not in your early twenties
- Aug 18, 2015
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I dont
Social media is a fact of todays society and it’s impractical and impossible to expect people young or old to ignore it. Every generation has its challenges and we need to learn how to deal with it.
- Mar 24, 2018
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You don’t see it from any of our other young players.
Dogs_R_Us
Space Traveller
During the cricket commentary it was mentioned that many players avoid social media like the plague.
MrChristo
Club Legend
Alcohol and other mind altering substances is a "challenge" to ignore for (especially) younger generations with the means too...
Possibly an extreme example, but different things can be different "challenges" for different people.
I'm not in my mid 20's either, and I do understand that there's a financial aspect, but on the surface at least it's pretty clear that the best way to avoid public scrutiny is to stop throwing yourself out there [to be liked, to be judged.]
You can break down social media in as many ways as you can think of, but the bottom line will always be the same.
Ego. (for individuals at least)
Ego in sharing your life/moment/6 pack. [and the applied to absolutely everyone, not just your 'celeb' types.]
And ego in the amount of followers.
The whole point is that it can be an unhealthy addiction, just like anything else can.
So while I obviously hope (and I'm sure there is) a high level of support from the Club, I would hope there's also a fair amount of education the mental health aspects of becoming excessively accessible to the random public.
cleveland
Brownlow Medallist
- Apr 25, 2005
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Hearing from a reliable source that a unnamed afl player is being investigated for getting a 15 year old pregnant.
Hearing from a reliable source that a unnamed afl player is being investigated for getting a 15 year old pregnant.
Not sure this belongs in the Bulldogs Pre-Season thread unless you have it on good authority it’s one of our boys (and you’re not just putting two and two together…)
- Sep 7, 2015
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Hearing from a reliable source that a unnamed afl player is being investigated for getting a 15 year old pregnant.
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Virgin Dog
Cancelled
- Oct 29, 2017
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The s**t I've heard about a couple of WA players over the last year or two makes this believable, even though this kind of rumour pops up countless times every yearHearing from a reliable source that a unnamed afl player is being investigated for getting a 15 year old pregnant.
TedDougChris
🏆 🦍
- Mar 10, 2007
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Hearing from a reliable source that a unnamed afl player is being investigated for getting a 15 year old pregnant.
Stringer ???
- May 23, 2019
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There's a Port player whose name has been a bit too close to that kind of situation in the past.
- May 23, 2019
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The Bulldogs will take on Brisbane in their AAMI Community Series fixture on Friday, March 4 at Marvel Stadium.
www.westernbulldogs.com.au
Bulldogs pre-season fixture locked in
The Western Bulldogs pre-season arrangements have been confirmed ahead of the 2022 season.
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