Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton has called out Western Bulldogs youngster Bailey Smith for his belittling on-field behaviour.
Brereton highlighted two separate incidents where Smith has taunted an opposition player and described the midfielder as the AFL’s “poster boy” for this sort of conduct.
“There’s a belittlement element to this and I hate it in our sport,” the five-time premiership Hawk told SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“Every team has one but the poster boy for this at the moment, and I adore the way this boy plays and I just want him to stop, is Bailey Smith.
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“He had an opponent against the West Coast Eagles who dived head long to try and stop his snap, Bailey snaps it and goes out of his way to retrace his steps to step over the Eagles player that is still lying on the ground.
“That was determined to be a humiliation of the vanquished.”
The second incident involving Smith occurred during the Good Friday match between the Bulldogs and North Melbourne.
“He (Jack Ziebell) has been a really good citizen in our sport,” Brereton said.
“When he gets beaten by Josh Bruce who’s on fire and Bailey comes in and gives him a double fist to the chest and makes out as though, ‘We did that to you, cop that’ and I’m thinking, ‘Mate, you’re the bloke who’s actually put it on the ledger. I’ve had some mental issues this year, go easy on me, go easy on people with mental health issues’.
“You can’t ask for points to be banked up if you’re going to behave like this. It’s just counterproductive to what you’re asking for."
