The Western Bulldogs are already bracing themselves to lose injured AFL midfielder Bailey Smith to a rival club at the end of the season.
Smith is in the final year of his contract and has been the subject of intense speculation dating back as far as last year.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Western Bulldogs can only ‘hope’ Bailey Smith remains at the club next year.
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Given he remains unsigned, despite contract offers from the Bulldogs, few in the industry expect him to be at the Kennel next year.
Hawthorn, Geelong and Collingwood are all circling the injured 23-year-old, who is expected to receive offers he can’t refuse.
Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge told Talking Footy the club can only pray he remains in red, white and blue next year.
“I hope he is — I wouldn’t say ‘expect’,” Beveridge said on Wednesday night.
“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.”
Smith suffered a season-ending ACL injury at training in December, ensuring he would miss the entire 2024 season.
Beveridge said the club remains focused on rehabilitating the extremely popular Smith as he continues to weigh up his future.
“We’re working behind the scenes to make sure he’s able to come back fit and healthy and strong, first and foremost,” he told Talking Footy.
“But secondary to that, I know he feels like he’s a significant part of the football club. It’s just, in the market and the short space of time that the playing group have to work within, 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.”
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Historically, successful teams have had to pay unders for their stars to keep them all together, a la Geelong in the late 2000s and early 2010s, Hawthorn in the mid 2010s, and Richmond of more recent times.
Beveridge still holds out some hope Smith can follow suit.
“There are obviously stories about players probably sacrificing some of that to stay in an environment, and we’ll work with him on his thought processes around that,” he said.
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.
After he was injured in December, Smith said he hoped he could still lift his teammates up from the sidelines.
“As long as I still train, I don’t mind,” he said.
“Hopefully I can inspire a few of the boys who don’t feel it when they get in to train and they see me in a full sweat each day, hopefully that can spur them on a bit, that’s sort of my motivation, is to try to have a positive impact on others.
“It’s only a small part not being able to run out on weekends so as much support as I can be for the group is sort of the goal.”
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