Progress made on midfielder’s contract

WESTERN Bulldogs CEO Ameet Baines has said a “fair bit of progress” is being made on a deal to re-sign gun midfielder Bailey Smith beyond this season.

Smith is currently facing a period on the sidelines, after last week being handed a two-game ban for illicit drug use late last year on top of a two-game suspension for a headbutt against Geelong in round 12.

Speaking publicly for the first time since Smith’s ban was handed down, Baines stressed it was crucial to acknowledge the vision of Smith taking illicit drugs occurred in the weeks following the club’s grand final loss last year and not in 2022.

“The important bit is the incident was from last year,” he said on Sportsday.

“While the club didn’t have any knowledge of any vision being in existence until last week, the period Bailey [Smith] was dealing with which lead to the poor decision making was something we knew about and dealt with at the time.

“To his credit, he’s put a lot of things in place over the last six to eight months to deal with that and his on-field performance has reflected it.

“We have made a fair bit of progress with his manager Paul Connors in the last two to three weeks [on his contract beyond 2022] so hopefully that momentum can keep going.”

Smith has played a starring role in the club’s season so far this year, averaging 31 disposals and four marks.

The 22-year-old will be available for selection again in round 18.

– BY LAURENCE ROSEN/ SEN