TOPIC:

For the SD lads, how would you compare Blakeley with Mike Smith?

Too hard to compare nearly 40 years apart AR.
Connor probably does his best work more inside and is a hard ball getting beast who has been completely wasted by Lyon playing as a defender at Freo.
In comparison Mike was a silky skilled left footer and smooth mover who due to a very serious knee injury early in 1981 missed 2 years of footy and we might not have seen him reach the outstanding level he showed in the 79/80 years although he did make it back to play a big part in our 83 flag before heading East to Carlton on the bog heaps over there in Vic.
Our best Centreman in my time was Leon Baker.

Mike Smith was another level and from what I saw definitely better than Leon Baker albeit by a small margin
absolute tragedy with the knee it robbed WA footy of a champion

Smith for me -- the only thing Blakeley would have on him would be fitness; naturally, if Smith had played in this era he would have been fit because of the training; he would have almost certainly been less skillful as well. You can't play faster and be as skilled. This is the fundamental problem with the code today.