Live: Geelong’s Smith faces old side in blockbuster clash with ‘theatre attached’

Bailey Smith was able to break out of centre and drive the ball inside 50 and Tyson Stengle, waiting near the sticks. Smith is up to eight touches.

Stengle had no problem putting the ball through for a goal, which got the home crowd on their feet.

The major all started off Geelong’s halfback, the backline playing high up the ground. It’s an aggressive press from the Cats tonight.

A high-pressured scrap in Geelong’s inside 50 finished with Shaun Mannagh with ball in hand and going for goal.

The ball swung out right but then squeezed through the big sticks to make it three straight goals to start Geelong’s evening.

The Bulldogs, however, responded moments later down the other end through Rhylee West. West streamed inside the Bulldogs’ attacking arc and whacked it on his boot.

Mark Blicavs, with his height and strength, got the better of Bailey Williams in a marking contest right in front of the big sticks.

The centring kick came from Ollie Dempsey, who got boot to ball on the boundary and sent it straight to his teammate.

It’s Ed Richards with the first goal for the Bulldogs. He got out the front of a contest, collected the ball and snapped it on the run – from 60 metres out.

Aaron Naughton followed it up with a set shot, but he slammed the ball into the post.

There are some excellent match ups happening around the ground.

Rory Lobb is currently on Jeremy Cameron, while Bailey Smith and Marcus Bontempelli have matched up a few times, but at the last stoppage it was Smith and Tom Liberatore.

Jeremy Cameron took the mark deep inside 50, played on to run into space and kicked the goal. Classic Cameron stuff and the Cats are the first on the board.

Bailey Smith collected the handball receive from a teammate and the crowd let out a round of boos (Bulldogs supporters) and cheers (Geelong supporters).

You have the feeling that could happen a lot tonight.

And after all the build-up as to who would start on Smith, it was a non-ex-teammate in Matthew Kennedy.

Should have posted this earlier, my apologies. No late changes tonight, very unlike Geelong.

After a wonderful and touching Welcome to Country, the ball is ready to be bounced.

Let’s do it.

Geelong and the Western Bulldogs have run out and are warming up on the park under the lights at Kardinia Park.

There’s a good feeling down in Geelong for this one.

First bounce 7:30pm AEST.

It’s a fun one, hey Davo. Let’s just hope it’s a close one too!

Geelong currently sit 7th, the Western Bulldogs 5th.

But there’s emotional stakes in this clash too…

Want some pre-game reading? We’ve got you covered with this write up on James Harmes.

After nine seasons at Melbourne Football Club, James Harmes found himself in a rut.

The premiership midfielder felt he had lost the faith of the coaches and was not enjoying his footy as much as he wanted.

In 2023, he played just nine games, three as the tactical sub.

At the conclusion of that season, Harmes was traded for a future third-round selection to the Western Bulldogs, where he re-sparked his career on the wing.

“When I got traded, I was probably going through a bit of a lower point in my career,” Harmes told ABC Sport.

“(I) wasn’t really enjoying the game as much as I would like. And it was probably to do with — nothing against Melbourne — probably just where I was at with my football, I kind of needed a fresh start.”

Read the whole feature here.

Tonight, Geelong veteran and two-time premiership player Mitch Duncan will become the seventh player in VFL/AFL history to play 300 games for the Cats.

Not a bad effort at all.

The 33-year-old was selected with pick 28 in the 2009 national draft and broke into the reigning premiership team in round one of 2010.

He’s since gone on to play midfielder, wingman, high half-forward, running defender, ruck and the sub for the Cats.

Geelong may be without skipper Patrick Dangerfield (hamstring) but they have been given a huge boost with Tom Stewart back in the side, along with Rhys Stanley.

Young one Ted Clohesy is also back on the park in the hoops. Also out is Jack Bowes (hamstring) and Connor O’Sullivan (managed).

The Western Bulldogs have just the one change, with Oskar Baker replacing Arty Jones (hamstring).

Luke Beveridge insisted the Bulldogs’ build-up this week had been no different to any other, but admitted there was “theatre attached to the game”.

“No doubt there’s going to be a pretty big crowd and I won’t say it but it’s taken the Bulldogs to go down there to almost pack out their stadium,” Beveridge told reporters this week.

“So, I don’t know what that means for Baz… I know what the headline’s going to be now.”

What spurred on these comments?

Well, the Cats-Bulldogs clash became a highly-anticipated clash after public barbs were traded between Bailey Smith and Bulldogs skipper Marcus Bontempelli in round eight.

After the Bulldogs thrashed Port Adelaide by 90 points in front of just over 4000 fans at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium, Geelong edged a three-point victory over Collingwood  in front of 82,154 fans at the MCG.

“Not getting that at Ballarat,” Smith told Fox post-win.

The following morning, Bontempelli responded on Channel 7: “It’s nice to know we’re still on Bailey’s mind.

“You know, he’s still thinking about us even at another team. And, you know, in the end, there’s probably a few less people down in Ballarat for him to flip the bird to”.

Smith has been fined twice this season for flipping the bird to fans.

Hello, footy fans, and welcome to tonight’s AFL live blog.

We’ve got a good one for you, Cats v Dogs at Kardinia Park.

Also known for tonight as the Bailey Smith Cup.

That’s as the star Geelong midfielder is facing his former side for the first time – and he created quite a bit of hype in the lead up with a few cheeky public verbal jabs (more on that later).

Please leave a comment at any point throughout the night.

Let’s do this thing.