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AFL poster boy Bailey Smith has quickly deleted an Instagram post in which he mocked respected footy reporter Caroline Wilson and used a sexual emoji to get his point across.
Smith made the post as his Geelong side gathered for their Mad Monday celebrations, with the stars wearing fancy dress after their devastating grand final loss to Brisbane on Saturday.
Wilson had blasted Smith as a 'brat' after he unleashed on a female media photographer with an F-bomb verbal blast when she took snaps of him at a training session that was open to the media on September 10.
The 24-year-old's teammate Max Holmes arrived at the Mad Monday party dressed as Wilson, mimicking a dress she once wore to the Walkley Awards and carrying a bow and arrow as a reference to her 'Caro's Arrow' segment during her time with Channel Nine's Footy Classified show.
Smith captioned an image on his Instagram story with Holmes as 'Caro has never looked better' alongside a sweat droplets emoji.
The emoji often carries sexual connotations.
Pictured: Bailey Smith quickly deleted this Instagram post showing him alongside teammate Max Holmes, who was dressed as respected footy reporter Caroline Wilson, mimicking an outfit she wore to the Walkley awards
Smith made a Brokeback Mountain reference on an Instagram photo of him being embraced by Geelong skipper Patrick Dangerfield (pictured), with both stars dressed as western characters
Smith is pictured with teammate Brad Close, who came dressed as Geelong superfan 'Catman'
The Cats star swiftly deleted the image, but later added another to his Instagram story showing Holmes giving two middle fingers to the camera while still dressed as Wilson.
Smith was slammed by Geelong coach Chris Scott over his run-in with the female photographer. He was also criticised for apologising to her with a text message instead of calling or saying sorry in person.
Smith – who was dressed as Brad Pitt's character from the western movie Legends of the Fall – also referred to the film Brokeback Mountain in a photo showing him being embraced by skipper Patrick Dangerfield, who was dressed as a character from the TV show Yellowstone.
On his way in to the function at the Wharf Shed in Geelong, the midfielder told reporters he was 'ready to pin the ears back' because he hadn't 'sunk p**s all weekend'.
Cats stars Ollie Dempsey and Sam De Koning also drew a lot of attention as they arrived carrying mysterious brown paper bags in an Aston Martin with 'Cotton On' on the number plate.
They were poking fun at a common footy conspiracy theory that Geelong have been able to get around the salary cap by giving players sneaky payments from third parties like their sponsor, Cotton On.
Geelong have been audited by the AFL about their third-party payments this year.
Geelong stars Mark Blicavs, Cillian Burke and Mark O'Connor (pictured) came as Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, who have been the subject of legal dramas and a ban on performing in Canada over their alleged support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah
Sam De Koning and Ollie Dempsey (pictured) poked fun at allegations Geelong have been breaking the salary cap with sneaky third-party deals with sponsors like Cotton On
Other Geelong stars arrived at the party dressed as the Fantastic Four
The Smurfs - and their nemesis Gargamel (left) - also got a look-in
'We just came from home basically with what we usually wear, just drove in our usual car,' De Koning said.
When he was asked what the bags contained, he replied, 'Oh, don't look at that. My pockets weren't big enough.'
There was another controversial appearance from Geelong's Mark Blicavs, Cillian Burke and Mark O'Connor dressing as Irish hip-hop group Kneecap.
Brad Close came as Geelong superfan 'Catman', who is known for painting his face and wearing elaborate costumes to matches.
Dangerfield and teammate Rhys Stanley got to the venue with 'Dangerfield Ranch' on their car in a reference to the Dutton Ranch from Yellowstone.
Other Cats rocked up dressed as the Smurfs, with one wearing a costume as the evil character Gargamel, with others impersonating South Park characters Cartman, Kyle and Kenny.
