BAILEY SMITH nearly had his promising AFL career derailed by an ACL injury sustained during a training session in December of 2023. Now, the star midfielder has revealed his recovery was even tougher than originally thought.
At the 2025 AFL Awards night, where Smith was named to his first All-Australian team, the 24-year-old revealed he spent four weeks in a “psych ward” in 2024. He admitted he struggled with the mental impact of his ACL injury and voluntarily checked himself into a mental health facility, Melbourne’s Epworth Camberwell rehabilitation centre.
Smith missed the entirety of the 2024 season as a result of the injury, which effectively ended his tenure with the Western Bulldogs, as he joined Geelong at season’s end.
“It was about a year ago I got out of a psych ward, I was in Epworth Camberwell for like four weeks,” Smith said. “I got a couple of hours out a day, and I spent that sort of training and I went through a really dark time.”
After his ACL injury, Smith took to Instagram to announce he’d be out of action for an extended period, glibly remarking “ah well, she’ll be right”. It seems he soon found that recovery would be more challenging than that.
“I know it’s just an injury but until you sort of experience it, and have a sense of identity sort of taken away and some teething issues with moving clubs and outside noise… I’m super grateful to be on the other side of it,” he said.
During his recovery period, Smith was also dealing with the end of his two-year relationship with ex-girlfriend Gemma Dawkins.
“It was obviously voluntary to go in. I still see my psych today, it helps me. Initially I felt, not weak, but emasculated a little bit, needing to reach out for help,” Smith said.
“I think I just changed my mindset from, ‘if you have an injury you need to rehab it in the gym’. If you have an injury, mentally it’s just rehabbing and keeping on top of that. It’s not just going to the gym for your fitness, I’m going for my mental fitness too,” Smith continued. “Changing my mindset around that, the word gets thrown around a lot these days, mental health as an excuse in some cases and it’s not a sympathy ‘poor me’ thing, it’s just more to raise awareness that you can put your hand up.”
“[It was a] tough period but I wouldn’t change it for the world. It always makes sense in retrospect. Just know whatever dark period you’re going through one day it’ll make sense.”
Smith helped Geelong achieve a second-place finish in the 2025 AFL regular season and will be crucial in the Cats’ finals run.
