Clay Smith has a tattoo across his chest which says: “Live The Dream.” In terms of his football, he has achieved the dream that had eluded the grasp of so many players before him. However, because of the numerous issues surrounding his knees he was forced to call a very early retirement on Monday. At the age of 25 and having played only 55 games across seven seasons in the red, white and blue, Clay Smith’s tale is one that could possibly go down in Football folklore for many years to come.
A Bairnsdale local, Smith starred for Gippsland Power in the 2011 TAC Cup, and was named an All-Australian in the 2011 Under-18 championships after a campaign that saw him average 17.2 disposals, 4.6 clearances and 3.8 tackles per game. He wasn’t a silky-skilled individual, but what he lacked in skills, he more than made up for it with his appetite for the contest.
His ability to win contested possessions enticed a lot of clubs and was projected to go late in the first round. Perhaps he was one of many on the radar for Greater Western Sydney, given that they had 11 of the first 14 picks of the draft, but the Giants passed on every single pick. In the week leading up to the 2011 AFL Draft, it was down to the Fremantle Dockers and the Western Bulldogs who had Picks 16 and 17 respectively.
After the Bulldogs defeated the Dockers in the last round of the 2011 AFL season, many believed that their victory would’ve cost them the opportunity at snaring the hard-nosed midfielder. However, the Dockers passed on him and the Dogs got their man. Over the following Summer, Smith inherited the number 14 guernsey that was left behind by young prodigy Callan Ward who defected to GWS.
There were many people – both supporters and insiders that believed that Smith could’ve filled the shoes of Ward, who showed great strides in his development at his final year at Whitten Oval. Everyone was introduced to Clay Smith in round one of the 2012 season, and he was introduced with a bang, kicking four goals against a very talented West Coast team. Despite a 49-point loss, there was a lot of promise about this young lad and I knew that the club had a player on their hands.
Although sometimes, AFL can be a cruel game and after all was said and done, this was a player that had some pretty rotten luck. After playing 16 of 22 games for the Bulldogs in his debut season in 2012, Smith was progressing well in 2013. He played 14 of 15 games up until the Western Bulldogs’ round 16 clash with Essendon, where his life would turn upside down.
Late in the game, with the match well and truly done, Smith went up in a marking contest against Dyson Heppell – who he used to play with at Gippsland in the TAC Cup – and landed awkwardly. Whilst Heppell got up and ran away, Smith struggled to get to his feet and drew plenty of concern from the doctors. It was then later revealed he had ruptured his right ACL and had to undergo a traditional knee reconstruction.
He managed to make it back for one game in 2014 against the Gold Coast Suns, before injuring his shoulder in said game. He returned via the VFL and just as he was on the cusp of making it back into the senior team, Smith’s right knee buckled as he went to gather the football and just like that, it was two ruptured ACLs on the same knee in the span of 12 months. In a sense of irony, that injury happened also against Essendon.
He returned for the Western Bulldogs the following year in the round four win against Adelaide, and they really got around him after he kicked a goal in the opening quarter. His team mates knew how much this game meant to him. His 2015 season would abruptly end just two weeks later when the Western Bulldogs hosted St. Kilda at Etihad Stadium. He would rupture his right ACL for the third time.
It all took place within the second quarter. The first incident happened early on, when Smith lept for an uncontested mark and landed awkwardly on his right knee. However, it looked alright as he ran to the bench and he went back on the ground before the end of the first half. However, unbeknownst to spectators and outsiders at the time, Smith had actually ruptured the ACL then and there.
But Smith, who was out of contract at the end of the 2015 season, took an almighty gamble and attempted to run out the game. It could either be described as a true test of guts and determination – which have been a part of his character for so long - or an unbelievably silly decision to put your knee in more danger. Just before half-time, Smith crumbled to a heap on the Etihad Stadium surface as the ball was coming towards him inside 50.
It’s so heartbreaking to see any footballer go down with just one season-ending knee injury, but I can’t even comprehend how hard it must to be to go through multiple knee injuries. Only Geelong’s Daniel Menzel has had more knee reconstructions, having ruptured four ACLs. I could’ve only imagined how close Clay Smith was from calling it a day after his third season-ending knee injury. But having seen the team play Finals that year for the first time since 2010, that only spurred him on to continue his dream.
He worked as hard as he could to get back into the team and sure enough, he got his chance again to do what he loved – and that’s to play footy. In the 2016 season, he found his way back in the Bulldogs’ team for their round 15 game against Sydney and got through the game unscathed which, if you consider what he has already been through, is a bit of a small win. In what was another minor victory in the career of Clay Smith, he managed to play every game from there until the end of the season.
He was fortunate enough to play in every game in the Finals Series, and I’m not afraid to call this out, but without Clay Smith that year, there would’ve been no Grand Final and of course, no premiership. He kicked a goal in each Final, but realistically, he made the biggest impacts in the Semi-Final against Hawthorn, which he kicked two important goals in the second quarter to get his side back into the contest, and in the Preliminary Final against GWS – which will go down as the greatest performance in his short career.
In the lead up to the GWS game, Smith lost an extremely close mate after he had a car accident. Whilst it could be understandable to not play so well after something like that happen to you, this did nothing but inspire Clay, as he kicked the first goal of the match. He then proceeded to kick three more in the second quarter to take it to four goals for the match, he would end with that as well as recording 26 disposals – most of them caused a positive impact to the team.
The moment late in the third quarter when he contested with former Bulldog Ryan Griffen inside the Dogs’ forward 50, which led to Caleb Daniel’s goal to put them just one point behind was a telling moment in that game. He had a really great night in terms of his football, and if there was anyone that deserved to enjoy their football, it was Clay Smith. His performance got them to the Grand Final, and the following week, became one of just 42 Western Bulldog players to ever win the premiership as the Dogs broke a 62-year drought.
Whilst he wasn’t a huge factor in the Bulldogs’ Grand Final victory over the Sydney Swans, Smith still kicked a vital goal in the third quarter and to be able to lift the premiership cup at the end of the day, is a just reward for his persistence. After all those times he went down with that knee, it would’ve been easy to call it a day after the third knee reconstruction.
Even with something as high as winning an AFL Premiership, Smith would suffer a bit of a reality check when knee injuries flared up again the following year and would only play a further eight games before announcing his retirement. This included a game against eventual 2017 premiers in Richmond in which he kicked four goals. His last game would turn out to be the Bulldogs’ win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba – which was the Dogs first win there since 2009.
In 2018, he has struggled big time with this troublesome knee and it would be tough stuff just getting out on the training track, let alone play a game of footy. Without question, his decision to retire is the right one, because his knee will more than likely deteriorate as he gets older, but in his own words, he got to be a part of a premiership team and he wouldn’t trade that for anything.
It is a sad feeling to see an AFL player retire at an age as young as 25, and he has stated that life without footy would leave a “big hole in his heart.” Yet, he should feel incredibly proud what he has done and achieved. Not many people can come back from three knee reconstructions and do what he managed to do.
We can only wonder what his career would’ve been like if he had not gone through all of that, but I’ll always remember Clay Smith as a true fighter, a man that would give it everything he had, every time he stepped out on the football field. Now, he can be at peace with his decision to retire from football and enjoy the rest of his days with his wife Sarah.
Thank You Clay Smith!!!