Marcus Bontempelli hits back at Bailey Smith with cheeky sledge of his own

Western Bulldogs captain Marcus Bontempelli has responded to Bailey Smith after the Geelong superstar raises eyebrows with an unprovoked drive-by aimed at his former club.

The Dogs had earlier stormed to a 90-point win over Port Adelaide in front of just 4814 fans at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium, which has a reduced capacity this year while a new stand is built.

Hours later, the Cats edged Collingwood in a thriller played in front of 82,154 fans at the MCG and the contrast was not missed on Smith even in the afterglow of victory.

The 24-year-old was asked to speak on his first months at Geelong after being told he seems happy since his move from the Bulldogs over the off-season.

“Very grateful to be where I am. They’ve welcomed me with open arms so I’m just forever in debt to this club,” Smith told Fox Sports.

“I’ll keep working my arse off to repay them and I’m doing what I love doing, and that’s competing regardless if we win, lose or draw. I’m just happy, can’t really lose.”

Cameron Mooney replied: “How good is it, 82,000 versus Collingwood on a Saturday night at the ‘G — how good’s that?”

Smith jumped at the chance to compare it to his former teammates’ match earlier in the day.

“It’s beautiful, mate. Not getting that at Ballarat,” he said.

Speaking to Channel 7’s Sunrise on Sunday morning, Bontempelli returned serve.

“It’s nice to know we’re still on Bailey’s mind. You know, he’s still thinking about us even at another team. And, you know, in the end, there’s probably a few less people down in Ballarat for him to flip the bird to,” Bontempelli said.

“So maybe that’s why he’s a little bit disappointed.”

Smith has already been fined twice this season for flipping the bird to fans.

The first incident came after the Geelong’s win over Adelaide in Gather Round with Smith retaliating to a Crows fan who had some choice words to captain Patrick Dangerfield.

And the following match on Easter Monday against Hawthorn, Smith gave the one-finger salute to fans as he came off the field following a fiery confrontation with Hawk star Jarman Impey.

Smith followed up Bontempelli’s comments with a pointed Instagram post.

The war of words sets the scene for an explosive first match against his old club in Round 11.

The two sides will square off in a Thursday night blockbuster at GMHBA Stadium, live and free on Channel 7 and 7plus Sport.

“But it makes Round 11 even more interesting, which I think we’ll all be looking forward to. And everyone loves a bit of theatre in the game, so we’ll be happy to provide, you know, the same as we get closer,” Bontempelli added.

Bontempelli has continued his hot form after missing the first six matches of the season with a calf injury.

In the 90-point win over the Power, he tallied 23 touches and three goals, as well as eight tackles.

Meanwhile, Smith is arguably in the best form of his career at the Cats.

After missing all of last season with an ACL injury, the midfielder is averaging a career-best 30 disposals this season and had 34 plus a goal on Saturday night.