Former Carlton player and podcast host Dan Gorringe has come out guns blazing, after he received criticism for airing an expletive-filled rant from ex teammate Sam Docherty without his consent.
After the club conceded 18 goals in a half to Sydney in the season opening game, Gorringe played a voice message from Docherty on his Dan Does Footy podcast, slamming the club and its lack of growth under coach Michael Voss.
"Exactly what happened again last night is the same shit that happens in every other game," the voice message played on the podcast said.
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"Basically, you smack our mids again this year and we'll be f—ed, going off last night. Change all the ball movement you want, but it's the same issue."
The ex Blues skipper then confirmed the message was provided to Gorringe for background, not to be aired verbatim, which led to Matthew Lloyd saying he would be "bitterly disappointed in Dan Gorringe" if he was Docherty.
"I don't think mates do that to mates, personally," Lloyd added on 3AW.
AFL broadcaster Gerard Whateley also piled in, calling it "reprehensible behaviour" to air the audio without consent.
Both Docherty and Gorringe have confirmed there's no animosity between the two over the audio leak with the latter eventually admitting he should've checked if it was OK first.
But the footballer-turned-influencer has fired back in a big way, calling Whateley a "muppet" and Lloyd a "rat" for their criticisms of him.
"Didn't we piss off some old man media over the weekend," Gorringe said on his podcast on Monday morning.
"I played it because it was just refreshing to hear. It was good to get some knowledge and insight from somebody who has been in it and it wasn't a PR trained answer to a question we wanted.
"That's where I kind of want this new media space to go. Instead of being this monotone, shit-answer industry where you just walk around in circles not getting the answer.
"The headline should've been 'guy says what everyone's thinking out loud'.
"You can't get second hand mad at something if the first hand isn't mad," he added.
"That's insanity. The concept of that is wild. I'm mad for someone who isn't mad about something. You dumb muppet rats."
He then zeroed in on Whateley, who he clearly has had previous beef with.
"Gerard Whateley … Mr Burns. Clearly doesn't like me and saw an opportunity to tell all of the other rats in the gossip factory 'hey, let's get him'," he said.
"Look … I actually deep down respect Gerard and what he's done. For him to do what he's done and built the career that he's built you just have to be like, that's very cool.
"Hey rat, you work in a gossip factory … he doesn't care about the story he just cares about having a whack.
"He was one that was very second-hand mad and still just has it out for us.
"It is what it is. He does what he does and there's people that tune into him and I respect that there is a community in football that like what he does. That's not me – I turn off."
The rant continued, next turning towards Lloyd and AFL great Leigh Matthews, who also expressed his opinion on the situation.
"Hey, Leigh (Matthews), f— up," Gorringe said.
"Hey, Leigh, respect you as a player, one of the GOATs and as a coach … shut up. Matthew Lloyd – you filthy rat. You absolute rat.
"Glad you found your voice Matty Lloyd. Had no idea Matty Lloyd had a platform."
Docherty stood by the criticism of the side's game plan in the aftermath of the leak and made similar comments on 3AW's broadcast, minus the profanity.
Nine's Damian Barrett revealed on Footy Classified the recently retired 32-year-old had been removed from his appearance at a Carlton function on Thursday, due to his comments.
"He has been contacted by the club and now told he will not be appearing at that particular function. It's a temporary cooling off between the two parties. He will be included in future club functions but it was a direct result of the comments made on that podcast," Barrett said.
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Carlton gave a statement to Footy Classified confirming the decision.
"We made a decision based off supporting our own people internally," Carlton chief executive officer Graham Wright said.
After the news of Docherty's ban from the club function broke, Gorringe finally admitted he was in the wrong to play the audio, urging the club to reconsider their decision.
"Sam Docherty is a genuine Carlton legend. The guy has given everything to the football club through the best times and the worst times, through injuries, cancer, leadership, the lot. He's the definition of what a Carlton person should be," he posted on Instagram.
"I'm the idiot. I didn't think, I played a voice note of him criticising the game plan and it's led to him being dropped from a Carlton function. That's the part that sits the worst with me. Doc should be celebrated every time he walks into a Carlton event.
"At the same time, it's pretty clear there are some people in old man media who have been waiting for a moment like this to come after what we're doing at DDF. That's fine. We understand disruption ruffles feathers.
"It also makes me upset that the club feels like this is the best remedy to help our current situation. Sam Docherty has given too much to Carlton to be caught up in something like this. I hate that my stupidity has played any role in this situation.
"We'll learn from it, we'll be better for it, and we'll keep doing footy the way we believe it should be done."
Docherty, speaking on 3AW on Monday night before the reveal that he had been booted from the club function, said he still "loved the club".
"It's been a very big weekend to be honest. Not exactly how I wanted to start the year, having to lie in the bed that's been made for me in some aspects," he said.
"I do want to say one quick thing to the Carlton fans out there, I do love the club and I think that's getting lost a bit in the Chinese whispers that's happening.
"It's been a big weekend and hopefully we're through it after tonight."
Lloyd – who was critical of the audio leaking and has since been called a "filthy rat" by Gorringe – believes Docherty's comments were on the mark.
"There's obviously people in the club, whether that's players or the coach himself, that are upset or hurt by the comments but I think in the cool light of day they could take a listen … and go, 'You know what? There's a fair bit of truth in what he's saying here, that when our midfielders go well, we go well, but when they get matched or beaten we're in a lot of trouble'," he said.
"I think if they could look deeper, he's got a lot of points in what's he making here but it's probably the way he went about it. But he was let down, as I've said before, he was let down and never thought it would air the way it was aired. But there's a lot of truth to what he was saying."
