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AFLPA CEO defends Smith over illicit drug social media quip
Sam Edmund • May 27th, 2025 8:13 pm
AFL boss Andrew Dillon says Bailey Smith “wouldn’t want to” make a cocaine quip on social media again as the league and its player union continue to debate a new illicit drugs policy.
Smith’s bizarre response to a question about “nose beers” on Instagram comes while outgoing AFL Players’ Association CEO Paul Marsh resists an AFL push for a more punitive policy.
Dillon and Marsh today came together to announce a reinforced $54 million player injury and support fund before Marsh came to Smith’s defence.
“Bailey is a breath of fresh air in the industry,” Marsh said.
“Everyone loves him and is hanging off everything he’s doing and saying.
“It’s not something we want glorified, illicit drugs. It’s not something that sits comfortably,
but there’s an element of him showing personality and I took it as something that was tongue in cheek.
but there’s an element of him showing personality and I took it as something that was tongue in cheek.
“If he had his time over again, he wouldn’t do it. But at the same time, I don’t think we want to take him down as someone who is showing a bit of personality at a time when it’s getting more difficult to show personality because of the criticism that flows when they do.”
Pushed on Smith’s behaviour potentially making a mockery of what the AFLPA insists should remain a welfare-based model, Marsh said: “It depends how you take it. As I said, we’re certainly not condoning it.
“(But) show us the evidence that a more punitive approach is actually going to improve outcomes on this issue.
“What can get frustrating is a lot of people who are not experts in this space and who have a whole lot of solutions based on nothing we believe makes any sense.
“We’re working with experts and we’ve got a behaviour-change approach to this that hopefully we’re not too far away from agreeing upon so it can be announced.”
Dillon said the league had been in contact with club and player.
“The team is talking with Geelong and they’re talking with Bailey. We wouldn’t want to see it again,” he said.
“Our players need to be mindful, whether they’re in public or on social media. They’re in the public eye and they’re role models.
“Particularly with social media, players have to be mindful how they use it. We know that. Whether they’re posting, liking or messaging, but in relation to Bailey he deleted the comments and put up an apology.
“But as Paul said, we absolutely don’t condone it and illicit drug use is a serious thing and probably shouldn’t be joked about."
Dillon said there was no timeline on the delivery of a new illicit drugs code, but described the last few months as “productive”.
“We’re getting closer, but it’s a really important piece of work,” he said.
