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Bailey Smith is heading to an AFL grand final, but the code's boss couldn't help taking a cheeky shot at the Geelong midfielder before his preliminary final win over the Hawks on Friday night.
Smith hammered home a decisive goal late in the match against Hawthorn to seal Geelong's place in the decider - against Collingwood or Brisbane - roaring to the crowd for good measure.
However all the talk about Smith in recent weeks has been his high-profile romance with Gold Coast fitness influencer Tammy Hembrow.
Daily Mail exclusively revealed the pair went on a date on the Gold Coast in early August, enjoying a swanky meal at Pan–Asian hotspot Rick Shores at Burleigh Heads.
Smith then returned to the Glitter Strip where they showed plenty of affection toward each other on a walk to Nobby Beach.
Then Hembrow travelled to Melbourne for a romantic dinner at ritzy restaurant Entrecôte in Prahran that appeared to confirm their relationship on Instagram.
Bailey Smith's love life has been under heavy scrutiny but he let his footy do the talking against the Hawks on Friday night
Smith has been dating Gold Coast fitness influencer Tammy Hembrow, with the couple spotted looking loved up in Queensland and in Melbourne
The relationship with Hembrow appears to have cooled, though, with insiders saying Smith is not taking her to the Brownlow Medal Awards
Their burgeoning romance hit shaky ground this week, with revelations Smith would be taking a mate to the Brownlow Medal Awards instead of Hembrow.
'She's definitely not going [to the Brownlow] with him,' an insider claimed.
While it remains unclear whether the relationship has cooled or not, AFL boss Andrew Dillon could not resist taking a cheeky shot at them ahead of Geelong's preliminary final against Hawthorn on Friday night.
Dillon addressed some of Melbourne's biggest movers and shakers in the footy world, along with Hawthorn-mad PM Anthony Albanese, where he decided to reference the Smith/Hembrow dates up north.
'Tonight, we have stars all over the field. Bailey Smith has been playing electrifying footy all year and was named the joint champion player of the year, along with Noah Anderson,' Dillon said.
'Two players with strong ties to the Gold Coast for two very different reasons.'
Anderson is the captain of the young Gold Coast Suns that made history by reaching the AFL finals for the first time this season, before storming home to a famous win over Fremantle.
The Cats qualified for their third grand final in six seasons 17.13 (115) to 13.7 (85) win over Hawthorn and the fourth of coach Chris Scott's 15-year reign at Kardinia Park.
AFL boss Andrew Dillon referenced the Smith/Hembrow relationship before Geelong's preliminary final win against Hawthorn
There were plenty of high-profile Geelong and Hawthorn supporters in the room, including Hawks tragic and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Scott led Geelong to flags in 2011 and 2022, as well as the losing 2020 decider, but feels this year's team is in better shape heading to the game's biggest stage.
'Yeah, I think that's right. I find it a little bit hard to compare previous eras but we do shift things regularly in-season,' Scott said.
'We're big believers that the game changes and we want to change either with it or hopefully a little bit in front of it.
'But we've been pretty stable for a long time and in part that's because we've brought some young players in ... and those guys became mainstays early on in our season.
'It helps you have stability and everyone, even in business, preaches stability. But there's no point keeping going with the same thing if it's not working.
'We just feel like it's been working for a decent period of time now, so that gives us confidence that we're going to be in pretty good shape to give it a real shake next week.'
