Michael Damian Smith (born 28 April 1959) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played with

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) and with in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL).

Career

South Melbourne

Smith played his football as a

centre half-forward In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the North Melbourne ...

. He kicked five goals on his South Melbourne debut, in round 10 of the 1977 VFL season, against Collingwood. During the 1981 season, Smith was cleared to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

but wouldn't play a senior VFL game at the club. He was embroiled in controversy in 1981 when it was discovered that he had mistakingly provided information on his permit to play for South Melbourne. The discrepancy was in his address. His grandmother's

address was on the permit but in reality lived in Caulfied, which was in St Kilda's

zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

. As a result South Melbourne were fined heavily and the ladder was altered, to give

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

the four points they missed out on when they played South Melbourne earlier in the season, when Smith made two appearances before joining Richmond.''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'
"South's turn to lose points"
22 June 1981, p. 26 This decision was later reversed.Carter, Ron; "St Kilda Regains Points"; ''

'', 30 July 1981, p. 30

West Adelaide

Mike Smith moved to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

in 1982 to join the West Adelaide Football Club. Over the next five seasons he played in 85 games and kicked 182 goals for The Bloods. He played on the half-forward flank in Wests 1983 SANFL Grand Final win over Sturt at

Football Park Football Park, known commercially as AAMI Stadium, was an Australian rules football stadium located in West Lakes, South Australia, West Lakes, a western suburb of Adelaide, the state capital of South Australia, Australia. It was built in 197 ...

. While at The Bloods, Smith was coached by two of the greats of South Australian football,

Neil Kerley Donald Neil Kerley (20 February 1934 – 29 June 2022) was an Australian rules footballer and coach. He is best known for taking three clubs to four South Australian National Football League (SANFL) premierships over three decades as both a p ...

(1982–94) and John Cahill (1985-86).

Family

His father, Stan Smith, was also a South Melbourne footballer. His son, Matthew was drafted by The Adelaide Crows in 2000 at selection 48.

Jim McShane James McShane (28 February 1871 – 25 October 1946) was an Australian rules footballer for the Geelong Football Club. McShane was the first player in the VFL/AFL competition to kick ten goals or more in a match when he scored eleven goals agai ...

, his great grandfather, played for

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Michael 1959 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Sydney Swans players West Adelaide Football Club players Living people