Will Bailey Smith play in Geelong-Western Bulldogs blockbuster? Star under injury cloud

Kieran Francis

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Will Bailey Smith play in Geelong-Western Bulldogs blockbuster? Star under injury cloud image

Speculation has grown about Bailey Smith's availability for Thursday night's blockbuster between Geelong and the Western Bulldogs.

On two separate days at Cats training, Smith was kept away from the media suggesting he might be in doubt to face his former team at GMHBA Stadium.

The 24-year-old stoked the fire ahead of this match-up a couple of weeks ago when Geelong beat Collingwood at the MCG in front of a mammoth crowd.

The Sporting News has all the latest details about whether Smith will play.

MORE: Bailey Smith bombshell: Geelong gun absent from training ahead of Bulldogs blockbuster

Will Bailey Smith play in Geelong vs. Western Bulldogs?

At this stage, Smith has been selected for Geelong as a follower in the starting 22 to take on the Western Bulldogs.

However, the Cats are known to play mind games with players and make late changes prior to matches starting.

We should find out whether Smith is locked in when the teams are finalised 90 minutes before the first bounce (6:00pm AEST).

Why is Bailey Smith in doubt for Thursday night's match?

Smith wasn't sighted at Geelong training on Tuesday, with the Cats claiming he trained indoors as the club was coming off a five-day break.

Then during the captain's run on Thursday, Smith went down the race to finish training indoors when media cameras were permitted to enter for filming.

Smith was the only allegedly fit player to not train with the main group on both of these occasions, with speculation rising about a possible fitness issue.

Bailey Smith and Western Bulldogs tension prior to Geelong match

Smith sparked tension with the Bulldogs after making comment about their Ballarat crowds following Geelong's win over Collingwood in front of 82,000-plus at the MCG earlier this month.

"It's beautiful mate, not getting that at Ballarat," Smith said, with the Bulldogs taking on Port Adelaide in Ballarat as a crowd of 4,814 witnessed during the same round.

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge had a cheeky response of his own to Smith's dig.

"I won't say it ... it's taken the Bulldogs to go down there for them to almost pack out their stadium," Beveridge joked.

"I don't know what that means for Baz ... I know what the headline is going to be now."

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.