Dermott Brereton highlights ugly truth about Wayne Carey snub as North Melbourne cop backlash

North Melbourne legend Wayne Carey was a glaring omission from a promotional video released by the club last week. The Kangaroos forward failed to feature in the video celebrating the side's 100-year history in VFL/AFL competition despite being widely regarded as the greatest player to ever pull on the white and blue striped guernsey.

The 53-year-old, who played 244 games for the club and kicked 671 goals during his 13 seasons with North, has been embroiled in multiple controversies over the years. And AFL great Dermott Brereton believes the decision to leave him out is an indication that the Kangaroos have decided to distance themselves from the 1996 and 1999 premiership winner.

"If you are trying to get your very best players that were representative of your team as players, Wayne Carey sits top of the list and I would have thought there would be a place for him in that video," Brereton said on SEN on Monday. "But the club has a decision to make. Do we put that piece of footage of Wayne in there and we know we will have to defend our actions in doing so?

"And that's the battle that they have moving forward and they've made a stance that no they don't want to defend their actions of putting his profile there in that commercial." But the move to not include him has not gone down well with fans or fellow AFL legends.

Collingwood great Mick McGuane questioned the club's decision to leave out Carey writing: "Love the concept and innovation North Melbourne, but if it's a 'true' celebration you cannot overlook your greatest ever player in the vision to promote it." While Kangaroos great Corey McKernan asked: "Can North Melbourne answer why you’d leave out Wayne Carey for a football related video for such an occasion?" And fans were equally furious at the decision to snub the club legend.

Dermott Brereton defends Wayne Carey's character

Carey has made numerous headlines over the years. He was famously booted out of the club after he had an affair with then-captain Anthony Stevens' wife Kelli, in a scandal that rocked the league. And most recently earlier this year Carey was also engulfed in a public drama surrounding his position in the NSW Australian Hall of Fame. While he ended up being inducted as one of the greats of the game, the AFL blocked the planned move to elevate him to Legend status in the Hall of Fame.

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Not only was Carey blocked from achieving Legend status, but after consultation with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon, the former Kangaroos skipper didn't attend the gala night at all. This was due to it falling on the same weekend the league honoured victims of gender-based violence at games across the league, and the fact it was the same week Carey was being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame sparked mass outrage.

That is because there have previously been allegations of domestic violence against Carey. He has also been convicted of assault previously.

But Brereton says he knows the two-time premiership winner well and while he admits he has definitely made some major mistakes, he has owned up to them and is still a good guy and should receive the respect his AFL career deserves. "I know Wayne he's a good guy. He's made some really bad decisions in the past and he has confessed and copped up to some of them," Brereton said.

"He's a good guy and he makes so many people around him happy... He's fantastic, he's a pretty good citizen who has made some bad errors."