A prolific goalkicker at WAFL level, Brad Smith was recruited at the age of 25 but successive knee injuries prevented him from making an AFL appearance.
West Coast career[]
Smith won back-to-back Bernie Naylor medals at Subiaco before West Coast, in desperate need of a key forward to lessen the reliance on the diminutive Phil Matera, gave him a late AFL chance in the 2004 draft.
Unfortunately, Smith blew out his knee in a pre-season match in 2005, requiring a reconstruction that kept him off the field for the season. On his return in 2006, he injured the same knee again in training and went back under the knife for a second recon.
Smith was delisted at the end of 2006, but the club explored the possibility of redrafting him as a rookie (Essendon having been given permission to do similar for Adam Ramanauskas while he battled cancer). The AFL refused to allow the move, and Smith's time at AFL level was over before it began.
Post-AFL career[]
Returning to Subiaco for the 2007 season, Smith showed he had lost none of his ability by winning another Bernie Naylor medal, Subiaco's best and fairest and a Simpson Medal for his seven-goal haul in the grand final. He added a fourth Naylor and a third premiership medal in 2008.
Smith retired following the 2009 season and moved into recruiting, and is currently part of West Coast's recruiting department.
Stats[]
| AFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | T | Cl | WAFL | Gm | G | B | K | M | H | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 0 | Subi | 0 | |||||||||||||||
| 2006 | 0 | 0 |
Links[]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Smith_(footballer,_born_1979)