Season in short
Clay Smith is one of the great football stories of 2016.
Returning via the VFL from his third knee reconstruction, Smith reminded all and sundry what he was capable of with a dominant 35 disposal, six inside-50 and seven clearance performance in a win over Geelong at VU Whitten Oval.
Smith was back in the senior side by round 15 and never looked back, his grunt and goal-kicking prowess a key ingredient in the Bulldogs' finals mix.
He kicked four first half goals in a match-winning preliminary finals performance against Greater Western Sydney and laid a record 38 tackles across the Dogs’ four finals, including 11 in the Grand Final against the Swans.
With a full pre-season under his belt, the 23-year-old can only get better.
The stat that mattered.
Played 15 straight games in his return season, including two at VFL level.
What they said
“It was nice to finish the year and know I’m going to do a pre-season. I haven’t had that kind of continuity the last three years, so to get 15 games, including the VFL, it’s just good to finish off the year. I picked the right year not to get injured.
“I’d like to lift the fitness up a little bit, it’s already pretty good, but that, just the skills, the execution a little bit which will come when I do more pre-season training than just running.”
Gram of the year
A closer group of boys you won’t find.
