Bailey Smith has lived up to the billing as red-hot Carji Greeves Medal favourite, claiming his first Geelong best-and-fairest.
Ten days after finishing runner-up in the Brownlow Medal, the gun midfielder went one better than last year’s second-place finish with the Cats, polling 178 votes.
The 25-year-old finished with 178 votes, 27 clear of 2024-25 winner Max Holmes on 151.
Holmes’ effort was even more meritorious, given that he missed the final five rounds of the home-and-away season.
After a slow start to the season, Shaun Mannagh capped a career-best season in finishing third on 131 votes.
Young guns Connor O’Sullivan (129 votes) and Ollie Dempsey (128) rounded out the top five.
Smith, who earned his second consecutive All-Australian blazer, ranked first in the AFL for total disposals and second for inside 50s.
“I’m obviously super grateful, but it doesn’t outweigh the pain of, I suppose, yeah, losing against Freo, and what we’re all here to really achieve, which is, you know, that last Saturday in September,” Smith said on stage
“That’s the one thing that’s on my mind.
“Obviously this is a great recognition, but at the end of the day that’s what we’re all here for.”
Earlier in the night, Mannagh was named the club’s Community Champion.
Veteran Mark Blicavs was recognised for his broader contribution to the club, earning the Tom Harley Best Club Person award.
Blicavs shared the award with Tom Atkins last year.
Not surprisingly, young ruckman Mitch Edwards was named Geelong’s Best Young Player.
After debuting in the Round 1 win over Fremantle, Edwards went on to play 20 matches and earned a Rising Star nomination in Round 21.
HOW THE VOTING WORKS
After each game, the coaches review and rate each player’s performance on a scale of 0 to 10.
Votes are only polled in games where a player’s performance has been deemed of a high quality
by the coaching group.
All matches are counted towards their final total.
X: @krockfootball
