Source : the age
The late arrival, the wild hair, the garish mushroom/gold suit and the on-camera eye-rolls helped Geelong star Bailey Smith secure the award for biggest sideshow on Brownlow night.
The Cats midfielder was notably absent towards the end of the night as he racked up best-on-grounds and stormed home to finish second in the actual medal count, with the broadcast cameras forced to resort to wide shots of the room to avoid Smith’s empty seat.
His abbreviated presence on football’s night of nights had begun hours earlier when the typically nonchalant Smith rocked up to Crown 2½ hours late wearing a tracksuit.
Smith did perhaps the quickest change in Brownlow history, throwing on his unique interpretation of black tie, which would have looked more at home in a ’70s flick, in what appeared in a social media clip to be a function room on the same level as the Crown Palladium ballroom where the medal count was taking place.
All eyes were watching the quirky cat when he appeared at his table and frankly, he was impossible to ignore.
Turns out the suit was a vehicle to advertise his ready-to-drink booze brand, Barry, with the lining featuring the brand’s logo – as an ambush-marketing flex, it was not subtle.
A pair of silver, surfer sunnies and a sling to support his recently operated-on right shoulder, were a vibe of their own.
Seated alongside Patrick Dangerfield on the Geelong table, Smith’s look became progressively more casual as the night wore on – his bow tie disappeared, the top buttons of his shirt were undone.
In the room, it was hard to escape the notion that were other places Smith would have preferred to be.
It was widely talked about among guests that he had tried to pull out of attending, and been a little hard to get a hold of, after his reconstructive surgery a little over a week ago for a chronic complaint that he had carried all season.
But another theory for his distraction was said to be a budding romance that had very recently gone south.
We will take that on notice given Smith’s social calendar is a challenge to keep track of, but either way, we hope the off-season is kind to the dynamic player.
If this year’s count is anything to go by, the umpires are a fan of his work, and CBD would love nothing more than to see him collect a Brownlow in the not-too-distant future.
Hirdy’s sparkling introduction to his new partner
Essendon great James Hird ripped the Band-Aid off his marriage break-up by debuting his new partner, Natalie Young.
The pair have been seeing each other for “a while”, but attending the Brownlow was a good old-fashioned hard launch as a couple.
Hird, who quietly split from his wife of 27 years, Tania, in 2024, won the Brownlow in 1996. Monday’s count was his first since 2012 when Essendon’s Jobe Watson won but handed back in 2016 due to Essendon’s controversial supplements program.
Hird and Young, who it is understood has worked in recruitment, fashion and property, were seated on a table with former Brownlow Medal winners including Shane Crawford, Ben Cousins and Simon Black.
Young’s sparkling red dress made her an instant red carpet favourite, posing for photos with Hird and happily submitting to requests from photographers and cameramen for the footy great to give her a twirl to show off the backless gown.
Legal elephant in the room
Taking a stroll between the tables during a break in proceedings, CBD came across legal eagle Tony Carbone, of Carbone Lawyers, holding court among the Brownlow guests.
Talk about the elephant in the room. Carbone’s firm is representing two of the women who have claimed they were sexually assaulted at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel in August. Five Sydney Swans players, Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Riley Bice, Nick Blakey and James Jordon, were involved some after-hours antics at the Pullman that saw their club disgraced and them banned from playing and attending the medal night.
Four of the players are the subject of an ongoing police investigation, with Bice having been cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. No one has been charged in relation to the incident.
Conveniently, Carbone’s table and the one hosting the slimmed-down Swans’ contingent that had travelled to Melbourne for the evening, were on opposite sides of the Crown Palladium ballroom.
The top table
Next up, CBD had a look at who was perched on AFL commissioner Craig Drummond’s table – the seats of power in the room.
Joining Drummond and his wife when we swung past were Sports Minister Steve Dimopoulos, Foxtel Group chief executive Peter O’Connell, chair of Tourism Australia and the Herald & Weekly Times Penny Fowler, John Lehmann, News Corp Australia’s managing director for Victoria and Tasmania, Toyota’s John Pappas, and Brian Walsh, the executive director of the Foxtel Group.
It clearly helps to get a table at the front of the room if you’ve got an expensive broadcast deal with the AFL.
Finally, Opposition Leader Jess Wilson showed her true colours on Monday. The mad Magpies supporter not only nabbed a selfie with man of the moment, Nick Daicos, and his brother Josh, but was also spotted during the evening introducing Liberal colleague Brad Battin to the pair.
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Fiona Byrne is the CBD columnist for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
