Oppo Camp The Non-North Footy Discussion & Matchday Chat Thread (NNFD&MCT) VII

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Can't get past the paywall, but assume it is mental health related.



Star young Bulldog Smith takes leave of absence


WESTERN Bulldogs cult figure Bailey Smith is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the club for personal reasons.

While the 21-year-old midfielder is completing his training remotely, football boss and club great Chris Grant is confident Smith’s preparation for next season won’t be impeded.

The Bulldogs also allowed West Australian pair Tim English and Aaron Naughton and South Australian Caleb Daniel to train interstate before Christmas because of border uncertainty due to Covid-19.

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 on Friday night.

“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 national draft.
He has dethroned Richmond superstar Dustin Martin as the most-followed AFL footballer on Instagram with 355,000 followers 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 that came with his overnight fame.
He revealed he had dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, difficulty sleeping and even eating disorder symptoms as he adapted 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 two, 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 alleged to have been involved in an 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.

Smith finished seventh in the Bulldogs’ best and fairest count this year.
 
The old ticker ?
Interesting that the first reports in Herald Sun had the Lifeline and other mental health orgs numbers at the end of the article which is usually a suggestion as to what happened, but I note they remove that when the article updated.
 

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Apr 1, 2008
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Interesting that the first reports in Herald Sun had the Lifeline and other mental health orgs numbers at the end of the article which is usually a suggestion as to what happened, but I note they remove that when the article updated.

Back again.
 

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He's doing what anyone over 30 with a suspect body should be doing with their career, but I'm not sure who he's trying to appease with that 'Never thought of leaving' line.

Ben would have taken priority in 2022, so his manager would have been irresponsible if he wasn't looking for a better deal next year. Not sure why we relented and offered 2 in the end.

Just say 'security AND success' was too hard to pass up. Such a meaningless quote from him.
 

“Premiership Eagles midfielder Chris Masten was forced to forgo medication and manage attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms throughout his entire career after rigorous testing revealed a severe case of the condition.

Former West Coast doctor Rod Moore was the first to recognise and identify Masten’s symptoms but he didn’t get tested for the disorder until late in his career.

But even suspecting he was living with the condition, Masten was unable to take medication because it is listed as a banned substance by the AFL.

“We did all the testing towards the end of my career to be able to get on to this medication when I’d finished,” Masten told friend and business partner Will Schofield on the Backchat 2.0 podcast.

“It was pretty rigorous. Months and months and months of testing. The end result was I was one of the highest (levels of) ADHD they’d seen.

“In team meetings, I used to lay on the floor in the lecture theatre because if I sat down, I’d distract myself and everyone else.””
 

Shinboner1

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 13, 2020
8,902
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Be interesting what happens next season if teams lose players to covid protocols
Extended benches, more rotations from teams with seniors and first years etc.
Best 22s will look a lot different when the older guys have to miss weeks.
Look at the NFL for inspiration.
 

SonofSamsquanch

Enjoy decent coffee but don't dunk yer biscuits
Mar 31, 2016
19,296
45,087
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AFL Club
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Anybody prepared to watch the AFLW season opener?

58CFD6E4-ACB9-4815-A7AC-B9C640811D76.jpeg
 

Heaps of fun

Goatered on the sticks
Sep 13, 2013
23,863
62,277
AFL Club
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Our most lovable rascal, the Ziebull, is causing absolute mayhem over on the Drafts and Trading board by continuing to make threads for every expansion player that is out of contract this year. As an agent of chaos myself, I am glad to see that tZ is spreading his wings and making posters of other boards seethe. GWS fanboys are in complete meltdown over a simple Tim Taranto thread. Keep up the good work, tZ!
 

koshari

Brownlow Medallist
Mar 24, 2011
22,569
35,607
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Our most lovable rascal, the Ziebull, is causing absolute mayhem over on the Drafts and Trading board by continuing to make threads for every expansion player that is out of contract this year. As an agent of chaos myself, I am glad to see that tZ is spreading his wings and making posters of other boards seethe. GWS fanboys are in complete meltdown over a simple Tim Taranto thread. Keep up the good work, tZ!
just needs desertroo over there to start a few conspiracies :)
 
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