Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield would love to see potential trade target Bailey Smith join the Cats this off-season.
The Western Bulldogs star comes out of contract at the end of the 2024 season and has been linked to Geelong in meaningful trade reports since July 2023.
While Smith will miss the entire 2024 campaign with an ACL injury, Dangerfield says any club would love to have the former No. 7 draft pick and thinks he’d look good in Geelong colours.
“Bailey Smith, I think is one any club would love to have, and the mullet would surely look beautiful in the hoops,” Dangerfield told Channel 7.
“He looks good in a Dogs jumper, but he'd look good in the hoops as well.”
After the 23-year-old endured a tough 2023 campaign where he was often played at half forward instead of in his preferred wing or on-ball position, Kane Cornes doesn’t expect Smith to re-sign at the Whitten Oval.
With a potential departure on the horizon, Cornes thinks that Smith must weigh up where the next phase of his career could be as he negotiates his value without being able to perform on-field.
“The discussion around Bailey Smith is, is it the right time for him to seek a new home and where is that? Is Geelong a good destination for Bailey?” Cornes asked.
“I think he's played his last game at the Bulldogs and that may not be a bad thing for the Bulldogs with what you can get for him.
“He's not going to be at the absolute peak of his value … (the injury affects his value) a little bit, but Tom Doedee still got a big deal to go to Brisbane off the back of two ACLs.”
Cornes’ co-host described the situation surrounding the 103-gamer as fascinating given he won’t be able to answer several questions surrounding his preferred role and whether he can recapture the form that he showed in the 2021 finals series.
“I just feel Bailey Smith was coming into this year with so many questions that he wanted to answer and that we wanted answered,” Edmund said.
“Where is he going to play? How is he going to play? Can he get back into form?
“He showed up a couple of years ago, there were so many unknowns given he was played out of position for the majority of last year.
“Now he won't have that information and he's expected to make a decision without that information.
“I think it’s fascinating.”
While plenty of teams would go after Smith if he wanted out at the Bulldogs, Cornes does think Geelong makes the most sense as a potential destination and that’s not only for the ideal on-field fit.
“I mean, Geelong makes sense though, doesn't it? It really does make sense,” Cornes said.
“It’s a little bit out of the way. The club has the right age demographic for him. The marketability that he brings and the sponsors that could be supported and that's been linked there for a while (with Cotton On).
“The role that he'll play, plug him straight into the centre bounce and play him there for 10 years. He's not going to be playing half-forward at Geelong. They're desperate, they’re talking about playing Tom Stewart the five-time All-Australian half back on-ball.
“They're crying out for on-ballers, so he plays there. The move to Geelong over any other team makes a lot of sense for Bailey Smith.
“It's not a bad thing for the Western Bulldogs who can cash in. They've got (Ryley) Sanders, they've got other options through the midfield, and they can once again bolster what they can get at the draft.”
Both Collingwood and Essendon have also been linked to potential moves for Smith in the upcoming off-season.
