Geelong assistant coach James Kelly has hailed the leadership of Bailey Smith as the former Western Bulldog appears to have slipped seamlessly into life at GMHBA Stadium.
The 24-year-old impressed in the Cats’ match simulation against Hawthorn, proving he has overcome a serious knee injury that wiped out his 2024 season before it even began.
“I feel like he’s fit into the group really well,” Kelly said.
“He brings a lot of energy. He’s a good person. The boys enjoy having him around. I find him really easy to coach.
“One of the things probably I underestimated was his leadership. He’s got a really good way about him of taking guys on a journey with him.
“He’s really diligent, really professional. He started doing extra craft before training, and from the first day he got here, and then now there’s guys that join him with him.”
Geelong will have its final preparation for next month’s Opening Round meeting with reigning premier Brisbane against Essendon at GMHBA Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Cats can use 26 players against the Bombers, with Tyson Stengle and Lawson Humphries available after returning from Indigenous All-Stars commitments.
However, Kelly stopped short of confirming that the squad for next week will be the same as the one to take on the Lions.
“I think you can probably start to draw some conclusions, but I’m genuinely not lying when I say we still like to reserve our judgment on all the players until we absolutely have to,” he said.
“As a coaching group, we probably leave it later than most other coaching groups. We’ve got a good idea of what we think the team should look like.
“I mean, if Paddy’s (Dangefield) right, he’s playing. If Stewie’s (Tom Stewart) right, he’s playing. Jeremy (Cameron),
“But yeah, we’ll leave it pretty late, I think.”
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