GEELONG coach Chris Scott won't coach the theatre out of Bailey Smith, after the box office recruit reacted to the crowd booing him during the Cats' seven-point win over Hawthorn on Easter Monday.
Despite missing all of 2024 while recovering from a knee reconstruction, Smith has been one of the recruits of the year, collecting 32 disposals in round one, 25 in round three, 28 in round four and then 35 against the Crows, before finishing with 28 on Monday to be one of the best players on the MCG.
Scott said Geelong knew what it was getting when it recruited Smith last October, and won't try and alter the former Western Bulldogs midfielder's behaviour.
"It was that minor it's not even funny. Often it's the retaliator that cops the free kick against. I think it's so minor that I wouldn’t worry about it; we don't condone it, but we're much more interested in a pattern," Scott said on Monday night.
"Even the fact I've spoken about it too much probably gives it too much airtime.
"We get that he's high profile, and I wouldn't necessarily coach anyone to behave exactly the way Bailey does, but he is what he is, and our job is to shape him. We knew he was going to come in and be a bit different to players that we've had in our system before, but we made a commitment to embrace it and help.
"He is 23, by the way, he is going to evolve. It's not just Bailey, we've got other guys that need to pick and choose their moments. He came off the ground and the crowd is into him – I don't buy into that much but my suggestion is the crowd loved it, the AFL loved it and I reckon Bailey loves it as well.
"If the suggestion is we should try and make him boring and vanilla then we will rally against it."
Star small forward Gryan Miers will miss next Sunday's game against Carlton at the MCG but should be available against Collingwood in round eight if he passes through the concussion protocols in time.
"Sometimes you come in and see a guy who is clearly still affected, which doesn't tell you everything, and other times you come in like today and they are fine," Scott said.
"He said he is fine. He was obviously a bit out of it for a while but now he feels great. He might not be telling me the whole truth but at least the signs are good."
