Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge has admitted that his confidence in Bailey Smith remaining with the club is beginning to “wane,” as the injured midfielder has yet to indicate whether he will sign a new contract.
Smith, who is currently rehabbing a season-ending ACL injury, has been given time away from the club to aid his recovery. This has fueled speculation of a potential departure, with numerous clubs reportedly interested in the 23-year-old, who is out of contract at the season’s end.
While the Bulldogs have successfully secured long-term deals for All-Australian ruckman Tim English, tall forwards Aaron Naughton and Jamara Ugle-Hagan, and are close to finalizing a contract for rising star Sam Darcy, the lack of progress with Smith is notable.
Beveridge stated that there is nothing in his relationship with Smith that needs to be “fixed” to keep him at Whitten Oval, and he doesn’t feel the need to pressure Smith into making a decision, just as he wouldn’t with any player considering a move.
However, Beveridge acknowledged that the longer the situation drags on without a commitment, the less optimistic he becomes.
“I don’t think we need to force the issue if the player chooses to inform the club early,” Beveridge said on Friday. “There’s still a lot to unfold at the end of the year, and sometimes there’s uncertainty from the player’s side. Players might have more than one option and are weighing things up, so they may not be ready to inform the club of their intentions.
“But when a player hasn’t confirmed that they’re staying, as time goes on, your confidence in them remaining starts to wane a bit.”
Despite his concerns, Beveridge emphasized that he hasn’t “resigned” himself to the idea of Smith leaving the club.
“There are always options available. I mean, contract negotiations are ongoing, and there’s a lot of back-and-forth between managers happening behind the scenes,” he explained.
“I have a great relationship with Bailey, so I’m not worried that I need to fix something that isn’t a problem. But there are certain levers you can pull in these situations. The intentions and possibilities for the individual player are often unclear to the club because so much of the conversation happens privately.”
Following a surprising loss to the Adelaide Crows last week, the Bulldogs now face a must-win game against North Melbourne to keep their finals hopes alive and “earn the right” to consider a deep run in September.
“My approach is always that you have to earn the right to talk about finals,” Beveridge said. “We haven’t earned it yet. We’ve done a lot of work to get ourselves to this point where we have a chance, and now we need to capitalize on it.”
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