Smith apologises to photographer; Bombers players will have major say on Merrett captaincy; Former umpire appears in court

In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:

Essendon chief Craig Vozzo has refused to guarantee Zach Merrett will remain as captain if he stays at the club.

Jeremy Howe expects to return from his adductor injury for Collingwood’s preliminary final next week against Brisbane or Gold Coast in a major boost for the Pies.

Former AFL umpire Michael Pell and three co-accused face court after Brownlow Medal integrity investigation.

Bailey Smith sent a text message apologising to News Corp photographer Alison Wynd after he verbally abused her at an open training session on Wednesday.

Smith apologises to photographer via text

Peter Ryan

Bailey Smith has sent a text message apologising to News Corp photographer Alison Wynd after he verbally abused her at an open training session on Wednesday.

Smith had flipped the bird at Wynd when she was taking photos of him receiving treatment during the session before asking her to delete the photos. When she told him she was merely doing her job he told her she was doing a shit job. It was the second time he had targeted the photographer, who has 25 years experience and is well respected in the local community.

On Thursday morning, after 24 hours of criticism for his actions, Smith sent a text message to Wynd. The Cats confirmed Smith had apologised and hoped they could put the incident behind them. Wynd thanked him for acknowledging it was inappropriate and accepted the apology.

Smith joined Geelong from the Western Bulldogs at the end of last season and has had a series of incidents throughout 2025. However, he has played outstanding football winning the AFL Coaches Association Award and being among the favourites for the Brownlow Medal.

Former AFL umpire appears in court after Brownlow Medal betting probe

Hannah Kennelly

A former AFL umpire and three other men appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court for the first time on Thursday morning, charged with various offences as part of a sports integrity investigation into suspicious betting on former Brownlow Medal counts.

In November 2022, former AFL umpire Michael Pell was arrested after allegedly leaking Brownlow Medal votes from specific matches of the 2022 season in one of the most serious integrity scandals to hit the league.

The investigation then widened into the 2021 season, when Pell was an emergency umpire.

On Thursday, Pell and three co-accused, William Forde, Mitch Lucas and Donovan Pell appeared in Melbourne Magistrates court for a filing hearing, charged with 102 offences between them.

The court was told the total fraud committed by the quartet was “about $300,000”.

Magistrate Brett Sonnet said the charges were serious and placed all four men on bail with conditions not to leave Australia.

All four men will return to court on October 22 for a committal hearing.

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Pell, who began his umpiring career in the Essendon District Football League was only promoted to the AFL field umpires list for the start of the 2022 season, having officiated in one game the previous year when he was called into action as an emergency umpire.

He is no longer an umpire with the AFL.

The AFL has since introduced a $250 payout limit for round-by-round betting on the Brownlow Medal to avoid a repeat of the betting scandal.

‘Emotions are high’: Essendon CEO won’t guarantee captaincy for Merrett

Andrew Wu

Essendon chief Craig Vozzo has refused to guarantee Zach Merrett will remain as captain if he stays at the club, saying players will have a major say in whether the disgruntled skipper retains the role next year.

The morning after coach Brad Scott insisted Merrett would not be traded under any circumstances, Vozzo said the club’s relationship with their on-field leader could be mended despite their best player’s face-to-face meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.

The Bombers are maintaining their hard line on Merrett, whose future at the struggling club is up in the air due to the Bombers’ poor performances on the field, for the second off-season in a row.

Though Merrett has not formally requested a trade, his desire to get out of the Hangar has placed his position as captain in doubt if the Bombers hold him to his contract, which expires at the end of 2028.

“Can he remain captain? It’s a really complex one. It’s one now you need to deal with in a calm way, you can’t deal with it today,” Vozzo said on SEN on Thursday morning.

“Today, the emotions are really, really high. My emotions are high, don’t get me wrong. If I was making an emotional decision today, I’d say ‘no way Zach can be the captain of the club’.

“But it doesn’t work like that, you have to take the emotion out of it, understanding the honour and the privilege.

“The other critical piece process-wise is the position of his teammates. In every leadership process I’ve been involved in, the position of the senior players, the playing group is critical to that assessment. That’s a really important piece, the most important piece, a crucial one.

“That will play out in time. Those decisions are usually made between January and February as you head into the season.

“The position of the players at the Essendon Football Club will be critical in that process, as will the senior leaders of the football department, and we’ll deal with that in time.”

The Bombers are also battling to keep contracted defender Jordan Ridley, who wants to be traded to Brisbane after an extensive run with injury.

If the Bombers hold their line, they face the uncomfortable scenario of having two senior players walk back into the club for pre-season unhappy to be there but unable to move due their contract status.

“I have no doubt that if the proper conversations are held and people respect each other people can work together,” Vozzo said.

“Held against your will, that’s an interesting one. I’ve always been very much a players’ person, and I still [am]. On the other side of the fence, you’ve got to understand when long-term contracts are entered, they’re entered for a couple of reasons – to provide security, but with that security, there’s a lack of flexibility that flows with it.

“When players, and this isn’t directed at any individuals, when players seek long-term security they give up a level of flexibility. That comes with that deal, that comes with the responsibility of being one of the club’s highest-paid players.”

Vozzo, who worked with Mitchell when the pair was at West Coast, was critical of the Hawks coach holding a clandestine meeting with a contracted player. Mitchell had also met with West Coast’s out-of-contract skipper Oscar Allen, who is moving to Brisbane.

“Two club captains this year is an interesting one, one with a two-year contract,” Vozzo said. “I didn’t like that. But that’s life.”

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Howe set for preliminary final return

Marc McGowan

Jeremy Howe expects to return from his adductor injury for Collingwood’s preliminary final next week against Brisbane or Gold Coast in a major boost for the Pies.

The star defender, who played in the grand final win over the Lions two years ago, sustained the setback in round 24 against Melbourne and missed last week’s qualifying final victory over Adelaide.

Beating the Crows earned Collingwood a week off, and placed less pressure on Howe, who believes “everything is aligning” for him to play in Saturday week’s preliminary final.

“I’m feeling very healthy, so the rehab process is going really well,” Howe told Nova FM.

“[My teammates] definitely helped me out in that space. It was an impressive performance by the lads. That’s the kind of style that we thought stacked up, and it was nice to get that for the first final.

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“For me, it obviously buys me an extra week to get myself right and ready, and everything is on track so far, which I’m really pleased about.”

Howe said the Pies had a “massive” match simulation session planned for Friday night and that his experience with far worse injuries, including his gruesome arm fracture in 2023, helped him deal with this one.

“I’ve had some traumatic injuries in the past, so when you have smaller ones – little irritable injuries – as frustrating as they can be, you find ways to put a plan in front of you, and move on pretty quickly,” he said.

“Perspective plays a massive role. I feel like even since I’ve had kids, I’ve got priorities where I can be injured, but I still can’t mope around.

“I’ve got to get on with it, and I feel like I’ve been well looked after by the club. They’ve put me in a good place to get after it.”

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