Caroline Wilson has unloaded on Bailey Smith, labelling him “gutless” and “horrible” for his Mad Monday post about her.
Cats star Max Holmes dressed as the veteran journalist as part of Geelong’s Mad Monday celebrations last year and posed alongside Smith, who put his middle finger in the air.
Sharing the picture on Instagram, Smith added a dripping water emoji and wrote: “Caro has never looked better.”
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The post drew widespread backlash but Smith escaped any punishment from the AFL, with the Cats announcing that, going forward, Mad Monday wouldn’t continue in the same manner.
Speaking about the incident for the first time on air over the weekend, Wilson took aim at both Smith and the Geelong football club.
“My issue is the emoji he (Smith) put to an Instagram post about me,” Wilson said on 3AW.
“It was disgusting, it was embarrassing.
“I was overseas at the time. My youngest daughter had to tell me what I meant.
“I thought it was horrible, and I was just really disappointed in the reaction of the Geelong footy club.
“Max Holmes got in touch immediately. He dressed up as me, and I didn’t have a massive issue with that. He was deeply embarrassed and apologetic.
“Bailey Smith is gutless, and he makes horrible comments about women and is irresponsible.
“What really disappointed me is leaders at that club, I think have really lowered their own standards by trying to build him up and defend him and I include Chris Scott in that.”
News.com.au has contacted the Geelong Cats for comment about Wilson’s remarks.
Smith also created controversy for posting a story where club legend Sam Newman verbally attacked Wilson on The Footy Show nearly a decade ago.
It followed a season full of off-field drama for the Cats star, which ended with the 25-year-old being issued a warning by the AFL for his continuous mischievous social media behaviour.
His first indiscretion for the year came in Gather Round against Adelaide, when he gave a fan in the stands a middle-finger salute as Geelong walked back down to the changerooms post-game.
Smith also stuck his middle finger up at Geelong Advertiser photographer Alison Wynd while she went about her job during an open-to-media training session.
He then swore in her face, demanding she delete the photos.
But despite his off-field indiscretions, Smith enjoyed a career-best 2025 season, which saw him round out the podium of the 2025 Brownlow Medal — finishing only behind winner Matt Rowell and Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.
However, his 2026 season has gotten off to a sluggish start.
He struggled to get into Friday’s Opening Round clash against the Suns, managing 23 disposals but having limited impact, as Gold Coast smacked the Cats 125 to 69.
