Respected journalist Caroline Wilson lashes Geelong after Bailey Smith’s ‘insulting’ behaviourCameron Noakes7NEWS SportSat, 4 October 2025 8:26AM
Geelong and Bailey Smith have been rightfully savaged by respected AFL journalist Caroline Wilson.
The Agenda Setters star has called Smith a “selfish brat” and said the football club’s response (to their players’ misguided Mad Monday antics) was “pathetic”.
In a column headlined “Bailey Smith’s social media post about me was insulting and sexist. How dare he?”, the award-winning Wilson did not hold back.
She said Smith had been a “season-long ticking time bomb” and he “exploded” during the club’s end-of-year festivities.
“The sexist post targeted me, but it wasn’t until my daughter deciphered the offensive emoji that I felt compelled to call out Bailey Smith and the club enabling him,” Wilson wrote in the The Age.
Geelong’s Mad Monday or Wacky Wednesday dress-up parties have been an annual tradition for many years.
This year Smith’s teammate Max Holmes dressed up (with wig and frock) as Wilson, while Smith made a series of Instagram posts from the function which have since been deleted.
Geelong later issued a statement, apologising “for the offence caused” and saying “certain costumes and associated social media posts were inappropriate and a significant error of judgement”.
“The club has decided future post-season events will not continue in this current form, and we will take this moment to further educate our people on expectations and club and community standards,” Geelong said.
Wilson also called out Geelong chief Steve Hocking, saying he had “remained silent since the Mad Monday disaster”.
“Geelong’s response after the club’s annual post-season dress-up – once a fun and largely original diversion from the brutal realities of competitive sport – was to release a generic apology after 48 hours of argy-bargy with head office. No individual put their name to the statement which declared costumes would be banned forthwith,” Wilson wrote.
“Frankly, it was a pathetic response which completely missed the point.
“Speaking about the behaviour of AFL players through the lens of mental health can be tricky but Smith behaved on Monday like a lawless selfish brat with no thought for the club nor those teammates who have defended and, on occasion, covered for him this season. And those at the club who defend him because of his public history with those mental demons should acknowledge how offensive and hurtful his behaviour can be to others.”
She said Smith offended the gay community and, by targeting her, “once again offended women across the industry … with a disgusting social media post”.
“And the post was only taken down after my female colleague Jacqui Reed complained to the club. Geelong’s media team has been MIA throughout September, and where was football boss Andrew Mackie on Monday?”
Wilson said she did not have “a major problem” with the Holmes costume and revealed he apologised to her after the event.
But she said she did have a problem with “Smith’s social media post and an emoji my daughter had to explain to me”.
She said many people from across the industry had also taken issue.
“This is not a case of professional outrage. How dare Smith get away with sending such an insulting and sexist message to aspiring females with strong opinions working in the media or elsewhere in the AFL,” Wilson wrote.
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