Rohan H. Smith (born 31 May 1973) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Debuting in 1992 after being recruited around 1990, Smith has long been one of the

Bulldogs The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-performed players during the season, led b ...

selection. Smith is currently serving as the backline coach of the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

and enjoys his time with his family.

Early life

Smith attended St. Paul's College in

Altona North Altona North is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Altona North recorded a population of 12,962 at the . Bordering sub ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

1997

The 1997 season was the most eventful for Smith and his team, which made a preliminary final. Despite a four-point lead in the last quarter, the Bulldogs had victory stolen from them by Adelaide. The battling club, which was the subject of the Year of the Dogs documentary in 1996, drastically improved in 1997 with the club being renamed from Footscray to the Western Bulldogs and seemingly a new dawn arising with a

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. S ...

berth likely. He also had a little girl named Keely Shea Smith and in 1999 had a son named Jacob Harrington Smith. With the Bulldog's surrender of a big lead, Smith is best remembered for encapsulating the feelings of the team after the loss, on his knees in the middle of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, punching the turf.

Later career

Smith again won All-Australian selection in 2003 and in recent seasons had been noted for his longevity in the game, at 33 years of age still being a valuable member of a young Bulldogs side. However, he had noticeably lost some of his pace during the 2006 season, and announced his retirement before the start of the finals series in 2006

There was talk of him continuing a further year if he was stuck on 299 games, but he insisted that he would retire at the end of the season, regardless of his games tally. The Bulldogs won their first final, against Collingwood Football Club, Collingwood, to set up a 300th game for Smith which he would share with

Scott West Scott West (born 14 November 1974) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented the in the Australian Football League (AFL). Having won a club-record seven Charlie Sutton Medals, West is recognised as one of the Bulldogs' greates ...

, another long serving veteran and one of Smith's best friends at the club. Smith and West were the only team mates in AFL history to share their 300th game in the same match. Unfortunately that game would be his last, with the Bulldogs going down by 74 points, away to West Coast. An emotional Smith was chaired off the

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood. Subiaco Oval was the high ...

where he received a standing ovation, a testament to his illustrious career. Smith now resides in Williamstown with his wife Alison and his two children. Following his retirement, Smith became a commentator for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

, since 2012 Smith has been an assistant coach at his former club in the

Statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1992 , style="text-align:center;", , 31 , , 14 , , 10 , , 9 , , 95 , , 46 , , 141 , , 24 , , 19 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 6.8 , , 3.3 , , 10.1 , , 1.7 , , 1.4 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 6 , , 7 , , 6 , , 54 , , 18 , , 72 , , 23 , , 5 , , 1.2 , , 1.0 , , 9.0 , , 3.0 , , 12.0 , , 3.8 , , 0.8 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 11 , , 2 , , 1 , , 63 , , 43 , , 106 , , 22 , , 16 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 5.7 , , 3.9 , , 9.6 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 22 , , 6 , , 9 , , 277 , , 135 , , 412 , , 86 , , 28 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 12.6 , , 6.1 , , 18.7 , , 3.9 , , 1.3 , , 12 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 1996 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 22 , , 15 , , 9 , , 280 , , 105 , , 385 , , 89 , , 29 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 12.7 , , 4.8 , , 17.5 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , 4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 24 , , 26 , , 13 , , 318 , , 145 , , 463 , , 95 , , 32 , , 1.1 , , 0.5 , , 13.3 , , 6.0 , , 19.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , 3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 24 , , 29 , , 26 , , 245 , , 121 , , 366 , , 101 , , 23 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , 10.2 , , 5.0 , , 15.3 , , 4.2 , , 1.0 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 24 , , 31 , , 22 , , 284 , , 114 , , 398 , , 122 , , 17 , , 1.3 , , 0.9 , , 11.8 , , 4.8 , , 16.6 , , 5.1 , , 0.7 , , 6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 23 , , 42 , , 20 , , 271 , , 108 , , 379 , , 125 , , 15 , , 1.8 , , 0.9 , , 11.8 , , 4.7 , , 16.5 , , 5.4 , , 0.6 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2001 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 21 , , 18 , , 21 , , 258 , , 102 , , 360 , , 96 , , 17 , , 0.9 , , 1.0 , , 12.3 , , 4.9 , , 17.1 , , 4.6 , , 0.8 , , 3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2002 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 22 , , 18 , , 11 , , 293 , , 130 , , 423 , , 111 , , 31 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 13.3 , , 5.9 , , 19.2 , , 5.0 , , 1.4 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2003 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 22 , , 6 , , 7 , , 353 , , 144 , , 497 , , 95 , , 30 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 16.0 , , 6.5 , , 22.6 , , 4.3 , , 1.4 , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2004 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 21 , , 7 , , 13 , , 304 , , 88 , , 392 , , 97 , , 29 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 14.5 , , 4.2 , , 18.7 , , 4.6 , , 1.4 , , 4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2005 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 20 , , 16 , , 17 , , 243 , , 135 , , 378 , , 121 , , 26 , , 0.8 , , 0.9 , , 12.2 , , 6.8 , , 18.9 , , 6.1 , , 1.3 , , 0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" , 2006 , style="text-align:center;", , 5 , , 24 , , 21 , , 10 , , 241 , , 132 , , 373 , , 137 , , 45 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 10.0 , , 5.5 , , 15.5 , , 5.7 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 300 ! 254 ! 194 ! 3579 ! 1566 ! 5145 ! 1344 ! 362 ! 0.8 ! 0.6 ! 11.9 ! 5.2 ! 17.2 ! 4.5 ! 1.2 ! 45

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Rohan 1973 births Living people Western Bulldogs players All-Australians (AFL) People from Williamstown, Victoria Victorian State of Origin players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne E. J. Whitten Medal winners Australia international rules football team players People from Yarraville, Victoria