Bailey Smith hasn’t played football for a year. The club he played for was one of the smallest in Victoria, the home of football. He was a watchable player at one of the lesser-watched teams.

He remains one of the most marketable, recognisable footballers in the competition. It is a status he propagates, but evidently does not totally enjoy. He is a footballing conundrum, a paradoxically shy extrovert.

The Cats unveil their recruit Bailey Smith.Credit: Cats Media

In some ways, it made the Western Bulldogs the perfect fit for him. He could simultaneously be on “Broadway” and off it, at once high profile and low. He appeared the ideal package for the Dogs trying to carve a larger slice of the football market as a high-end talent with high-end marketability.

Young women in particular, even those with little interest in football, had knowledge of Smith because his long mullet and whispy moustache populated their social media feeds. By extension, this market also now knew the Bulldogs, but the Dogs found the idea of vicarious popularity illusory. Smith’s horde of followers followed the mullet and the looks, less so the football club. Despite his high social media presence he never enjoyed doing club media.

According to Smith and the people who know him well, the reason for him wanting to leave should not be over-thought, for it was primarily a simple footballing decision: he wanted to play on the ball, and saw his path to playing in the centre square at the Bulldogs would continue to be blocked.

With a starting midfield of Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Adam Treloar and........

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