“Ironic”: Cornes reacts to Bailey Smith incident

Bailey Smith has reportedly verbally abused a photographer at Geelong training.

The Herald Sun’s Lauren Wood is reporting that the Cats star accused News Corp photographer Alison Wynd of trying to “bait” him.

Smith had words over the fence after he was snapped receiving treatment on his hip.

Kane Cornes reacted to the incident on SEN’s Sportsday.

“I am seat one for Bailey Smith, can I just say that. He’s absolutely one of my favourites,” Cornes admitted.

“But is it a little bit ironic that the most photographed man in football gets upset at having his photograph taken?

“He lives off endorsements, he puts photos up with his top off, he sits in front of saunas promoting them with his top off, he gets papped everywhere.

“I’m sure he’s the most selfied footballer in the history of selfies.

“I just find it a little bit strange that he would get upset and make a story out of that today.

“He’s got half a million Instagram followers, his brand is to be photographed and I think he leans into that.

“He’s not Dustin Martin where he’s sort of shy, he’s pretty out there.

“I’ve seen the vision, there’s nothing terrible about it, he just has a few words with a female photographer, but I think he’s out of line here today as much as I love him.”

The All-Australian is believed to have said “stop trying to bait me” after he was snapped on a rubdown table on the interchange bench where receiving treatment for his hip, which he described as a “private moment”.

The photographer responded by saying she was simply doing her job, to which Smith replied: “you’re doing a f---ing s--t job”.

SEN's Sam Edmund was strong with his opinion on the matter, suggesting Smith was “out of line”.

“Speaking to people who were there, Bailey Smith shocked onlookers. He launched a tirade at a female photographer,” Edmund said on SEN's Dwayne's World.

“It was an open training session at GMHBA Stadium. For context, Bailey Smith was getting massage treatment on his hip near the interchange bench when he was photographed from a distance by News Corp snapper Alison Wynd.

“Smith initially gave Alison the bird before walking along and around the boundary line to abuse her. She was standing 10 to 12 rows back in the stands but he demanded she delete the photos.

“Alison said word to the effect of she was just doing her job to which Bailey replied, ‘well, you’re doing a s--t job’. That’s what she can remember. There was more but she was completely rattled and he came back for more later in the session.

“This is the second time Bailey has had a go at Alison Wynd while others have also come in for abuse this season.

“The Cats have actually invited the media there. It’s not like she is out the front of his house, watching him get into his car with his partner or girlfriend before training in his private time.

“This is completely out of line and to be honest outright bizarre behaviour. I’ve reached out to the Cats for comment, none forthcoming yet. Absolutely bizarre in the extreme.”

Dwayne Russell believes the Cats have to apologise for Smith’s antics.

“The need to quickly apologise, the Geelong Football Club, for this,” Russell said.

“I’m of the belief that’s out of line from what I’ve read and from the pictures I’ve seen.

“If you’re Bailey Smith, you’ve got to have a look at yourself in the mirror and you need to be able to treat people a bit more respectfully than this.

“It’s not good enough.”

Wynd explained to News Corp what eventuated.

“Previously, when Bailey was leaving the pitch he said, ‘Did you get enough f---ing photos yet?’ to me while I was photographing,” Wynd said.

“I just thought it was a completely unwarranted reaction to the situation.

“Prior to that, I photographed Mitch Duncan on the same massage table getting worked on. Bailey got on the table, I photographed him and then he said it was a breach of his privacy, that I was trying to bait him, which is incorrect.

“It wasn’t as if I was photographing him with his girlfriend. It was an open media training session.”

It is the second time this year that the 24-year-old has reacted strongly to the media at training after an incident in mid-August.