Bailey couldn't speak highly enough of Bartram, whose father Steve had battled illness for a long time.
"For a 21-year-old, Clint's courage to play today and his bravery to play today was extraordinary. His father passed away this morning and we've been in contact with Clint for the last couple of weeks," Bailey said post-match.
"Obviously I've spoken to Clint often over the last couple of weeks, with his situation with his father. And today, he texted me this morning and said his father had passed away."
Bailey said he was fully supportive of Bartram's decision to either play or stand aside against the Crows, adding that the young Demon was determined to honour his father.
"I spoke to him on the phone and I said: 'Do you want to play today or not? If you want to play, fine. But if you don't want to play, then we'll support you with whichever decision you want to make’," Bailey said.
"He was adamant that he wanted to play. When I spoke to him, he showed a great deal of confidence to say: 'No, I want to play. I actually want to play. I know the last couple of weeks have been hard.'
"He desperately wanted to play. In the end, the best way for Clint to reward his father passing was to play and he was fantastic today. Not many 21-year-olds could do what he did."
Bartram's teammate Lynden Dunn also paid tribute to the 49-gamer's ability to play on through adversity.
"We got told before the game that 'Barty's' old man passed away and it was probably one of the worst days of his life," Dunn told melbournefc.com.au.
"He stuck his hand up and said he was willing to play for us and that he wanted to win for his Dad.
"'Barty' has had a tough time for the last six weeks. He's been back and forth home to Geelong over the last six weeks, and we knew that he was in a bad way, so it's unfortunate that he passed away. All of our condolences to the Bartrams.
Dunn described Bartram as the type of player opponents now cringe at when they see him lining up on them.
"They absolutely cack themselves. He's got the biggest heart and he's like a bull-terrier," he said.
"He probably hasn't got the best skills in the game, but he's just loves to compete – he's so good in that way."
