WE'VE seen Bailey Smith like this before, even Christian Petracca. But this is Toby Greene like we've never seen him before.
Dressed from head to toe in Prada, then Dior, the new Greater Western Sydney standalone captain is far from out of his depth inside a Sydney warehouse studio early last week.
With his trademark mullet straightened and clipped, Smith looks like he could transition into a different career on an international catwalk. It is why many view the rising superstar as the David Beckham of the AFL.
Petracca is first to kick things off. Wearing a tobacco Zegna suit and Fendi slides, the Melbourne midfielder might look out of place on Brownlow Medal nights of old, but not in the glossy pages of a GQ magazine. And maybe not at future counts on that special September Monday.
Greene grew up with posters of James Hird on his wall, rather than anything from GQ. But it is the unique partnership between the global men's style publication and the AFL that has three of the most recognisable players in the game in front of the camera on a day when the temperature outside hovers in the high 30s.
"Not once did I think this could be a career path, not once. But I was pretty happy with how the kits looked today," Greene tells AFL.com.au with that trademark grin.
While Greene has become one of the best players in the game, the dual All-Australian is also renowned inside GWS as one of the most diligent away from the club. When his time is up in this game, life after footy looks bright.
The Victorian has completed a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in International Business and Marketing, and is now completing a Master of Business Administration, while investing in pubs and companies like Guzman y Gomez via former teammate Matt de Boer's VC firm Athletic Ventures.
At just 22, Smith is a lot closer to the start than the finish, but in the space of a few high-octane seasons in the AFL, he has become not only one of the most marketable players in the AFL, but also in Australian sport.
Sponsors clamour for his signature on the back of his wild popularity and Instagram reach that has him level with Lance Franklin on 349,000 followers as the most followed players in the game. Cotton On is Smith's biggest and most lucrative partnership, but he is also sponsored by Monster Energy and McDonald's.
The Western Bulldogs midfielder has had to grow up quickly under an intense gaze that almost no player has ever had to handle. Smith exploded during the 2021 finals series when Luke Beveridge's side made an unlikely deep September run. Since then, Smith has had to learn how to deal with scrutiny, both on-field and off-field.
"The more I surround myself with people I grew up with that ground me, the less I view the pressure and how big the pressure seems. They really help deflate that bubble of pressure by just hanging up with my mates I grew up with at school," Smith explains.
"I probably got caught up in it a bit in the past, whereas now it's all about perspective on where I sit. The pressure is as big as you allow it to be and how much time of day you give it."
Petracca has done things differently to the other two, curating a massive Tik Tok following on the back of a content strategy that pulls back the curtains and shows the next generation what is required to make it in the AFL.
If you didn’t already know, the three-time All-Australian can cook and it turns out people like watching him cook. He grew up idolising Scott Pendlebury, and still does, wanting to know the morsels of information that have made him great. Behind the scenes access to the stars was once very limited, but now Petracca likes to show the next generation how to prepare to be the best.
"My fiancée Bella is a very smart woman and she was the one that said the younger generation really love Tik Tok. What's hitting well on Tik Tok? People being themselves and showing who they are. You love cooking? Why don't we do a cooking video and see how it goes from there," Petracca said.
"I did it and ever since then it has gone really, really well and it shows who I am away from the game.
"I do day in the life videos and show what I do on a daily basis. For me to give that back to the fans is pretty cool. Yes, social media has some negatives, but it can also have a really strong influence on people."
Smith has been through the wringer at times in the past 12 months. He has dealt with a mental health battle and a drug scandal, but emerged out the other side more balanced.
Footy is still central to his world, but it is not the only focus. He spends a day each week at Cotton On's headquarters in Geelong, working on projects and shadowing executives. Those inside the building still pop their heads up and stare as if he is Justin Bieber, but the star Dog has become a part of the furniture.
"I don't want footy to be the best part of my life. I don't want it to be where I have my best experiences, where it's the most fruitful money-wise or experience-wise; I think there is so much out there that you can explore and enjoy and tap into," Smith explains on the corner of the set, sitting wearing a Hermes jacket.
"I'm trying to do that as best I can so it holds me in good stead in the future, even in the current moment it helps a lot because it takes the pressure away from the game. Each result and outcome isn't as imprinted on you if you didn't have any focuses and interests. I want to excel in different fields and not be a one-trick pony."
Petracca is not quite as comfortable in this setting as he is at a stoppage. This is foreign territory, but the 27-year-old is comfortable in his own skin. He is more than happy to discuss things that matter for people in their 20s navigating elite sport or just life in general. He might be a big deal now, but he doesn't carry himself that way.
"I see a psychologist away from the game and I think the stigma around that should be changed. I think it's just amazing to have someone as a sounding board to talk to," he says.
"That is someone I really love spending time with and talking to about not just on-field stuff but life and developing and maturing as a person. That obviously translates to both on and off the field. The pysch that I see tells me how it is, and I like that. She also gives me strategies and ways to do this and that.
"The best thing about the pysch is it's a sounding board. If you're feeling angry or frustrated or any kind of emotion, they've dealt with every situation. They don't make the situation go away but they take the emotion out of it, whether its family stuff or footy stuff."
After a full day of training, champion goal kicker Lance Franklin enters the building late in the afternoon to complete a box office quartet. The mood instantly changes. Greene, Petracca and Smith are all massive names, but there is only one Buddy.
The four-time Coleman medallist is whisked into a makeup chair and quickly dressed in a vintage South Melbourne guernsey. Soon, Petracca is wearing a Melbourne jumper from the late 80s and Smith is in a yesteryear Footscray jumper. Greene plays for a club that only started a decade ago, so he remains in a leather Gucci jacket.
All four then depart the studio for a park down the road. Franklin, Greene, Smith and Petracca cross a busy intersection undetected. Only in Sydney can those four – dressed in an unlikely assortment of gear – wander around like this without creating a stir. And it is there, in the grass, that they pose for the final shots of a day where they underlined what it means to be box office stars in this game.