2016 Western Bulldogs premiership player Clay Smith steps into the boxing ring

Clay Smith has rediscovered his competitive edge. The 2016 Western Bulldogs premiership player, forced into retirement by a chronic knee injury last year, has donned the boxing gloves, winning his first battle in the ring at Melbourne Pavilion in June.

The 26-year-old, who was born and bred in Gippsland, underwent three ACL knee operations during his 55-game playing career and, nearly a year on from hanging up the boots, has found a new passion.

“Competing – that was the biggest thing I was struggling with and missing outside of footy. There was also probably some mental stuff too I’d dealt with before and I was also adapting to a new life and not having sport in it,’’ Smith says. “When I did take boxing up it filled that hole, gave me some focus back, a lot more enjoyment and something to look forward to. Leading up to the fight we did a seven-week training camp with 26 other fighters … I got to experience that camaraderie again.”

On June 21, Smith, the headline act, beat opponent Chris French in three rounds, taking out the cruiserweight division.

“It was good just to get back into some competitive sport, get that buzz again and put my mind towards something. It was awesome to get a win in my first one,” he says.

“There was a lot of waiting in the lead-up then the actual fight went pretty quick, it was only three two-minute rounds. I built some relentless pressure, came forward, threw my punches and didn’t let my opponent dictate terms.”

Donning the boxing gloves wasn’t completely foreign to Smith.

“I’d always done it in the off-season for footy, mainly for fitness but I have always loved boxing. After footy finished I put on a few kilos and wasn’t real happy about it so I went in for a session and got roped into a seven-week camp,’’ he says. “My playing weight was 85 kilograms, I was 89.7 kilograms at the start of camp and was 81 kilograms flat when I weighed in the night before [the fight].” Retiring from the AFL at just 25 forced Smith to embark on a quick transition from elite athlete to full-time worker. He swapped a Sherrin for the tools and the Bulldogs jumper for a fluro polo, landing a job in steel fixing, working on the ANZAC train station development as part of the Metro Tunnel project.

“It’s definitely been a change of pace,’’ Smith says. “It took a bit of getting used to, to start with, but I like it – the blokes I work with and working outdoors every day.”

So, with one win from one fight under Smith’s belt, what’s next?

“I’ll stick with it and have another fight in October. Boxing came around at the right time for me,’’ he says.

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