In the Bulldogs' 2021 AFL finals series, Bailey Smith announced himself as a potential superstar of the game.
He kicked the winning goal in the semi-final with two minutes letf against Brisbane, before snagging four majors in the preliminary final versus Port Adelaide to help the Bulldogs into the grand final.
These match-winning performances, game-sealing moments were Dustin Martin-esque and a long successful career at Whitten Oval looked a certainty.
It's no surprise that Smith is the Brownlow Medal favourite less than four years later, but it is a shock that it is at a different club - Geelong - after being traded for only a late first-round pick.
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There were many factors that caused the departure of Smith from the Bulldogs - off-field incidents, an ACL knee injury and the player's disgruntlement at the club.
But you have to wonder how a player like Smith, who almost single-handedly hauled the Bulldogs into a grand final at 20 years of age, is arguably the best player in the game today at Geelong and not the Bulldogs.
The Cats have been traditionally a family-first, team-orientated club over the years, with those values underpinning their success.
Their recent superstar players will go down as greats of the game - the likes of Gary Ablett Jnr, Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron - but none of them are as high-profile off-the-field as Smith.
Whether it's just a public relations exercise at this stage or not, Geelong are embracing the status of Smith as their no.1 man both on-and-off the field in a shift from the past.
In addition to being favourite for 'Charlie', Smith has been fined for giving the 'finger' to fans, been reprimanded for joking about drug use at the end of the season and had a personal meeting with the AFL CEO about his behaviour.
Geelong coach Chris Scott is publicly fully behind Smith despite the controversies, including suggestions the player's team-mates are questioning the fanfare.
"We’ve had enough to do with Bailey already to think ‘let him go’. And occasionally, because he is so high-profile, there’ll be a few things that maybe step over the mark — but I’d be staggered if it ever comes from a bad place," Scott said on AFL 360.
"So, if there’s criticism that comes, and I get there are some people that would prefer that it didn’t work out for Bailey and for us — that’s fine, we’re in a competitive environment — but my sense is that some stuff has been almost made up to suggest that some of our players aren’t happy with Bailey. It’s just not true."
But the million-dollar question is does this freedom erode if Smith fails to perform or is not playing football?
And will Geelong take a similar route to the Western Bulldogs or stick fat through the tough times that will inevitably come?