Wayne Carey in sad family revelation after lashing out over latest fallout around AFL legend

Wayne Carey has finally had enough of the negative headlines associated with his name and says he's concerned about the effects the ongoing drama is having on his children and family. The two-time premiership North Melbourne legend found himself at the centre of fresh backlash after being a glaring omission from a recent Kangaroos promotional video celebrating the AFL club's 100-year history.

Carey is widely regarded as the greatest player to pull on the white and blue guernsey of the Kangaroos, so the club's decision not to include him in the video raised more than a few eyebrows and prompted plenty of criticism. While Carey played 244 games and kicked 671 goals during his 13 seasons with North, he has also been embroiled in several controversies over the years that the club seemed keen to distance itself from.

Carey was famously booted out of North Melbourne after having an affair with then-captain Anthony Stevens' wife Kelli, in a scandal that rocked the league. He was also at the centre of controversy earlier this year after the AFL blocked a move to elevate Carey to Legend status after he inducted into the NSW Australian Hall of Fame.

The Kangaroos legend didn't even attend the gala night after consultations with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon largely due to the fact it fell on the weekend the league honoured victims of gender-based violence. Carey has previously faced accusations of domestic violence and has been convicted of assault, and the AFL was worried his presence at the gala event would take away from the significance of the round.

But Carey's snub from the North Melbourne video - and the furore that has followed - appears to be the last straw for the 53-year-old. Speaking on Sam Newman’s podcast, Carey said it's just the latest example of his name being dragged through the mud for things which happened in the past that he's addressed and taken responsibility for and is keen to move on from.

“This is me finally saying, ‘come on, enough is enough’,” Carey said on the 'You Cannot Be Serious' podcast. “Surely I don’t have to live... I’ve probably only got nine good summers left, Sam. Surely I don’t have to live the last years of my life living things that occurred 30-plus, 20-plus years ago. Surely I’m not that interesting to keep bringing up things that happened that long ago. It’s astounding."

Wayne Carey worried for children amid ongoing drama

Carey - who is expecting a second child with partner Jessca Paulke in January - says he's also worried about the effects the negativity around him is having on his children and their mothers. Carey also has two daughters: Ella (18), from his first marriage to Sally McMahon and Charlotte (9) with Stephanie Edwards, who he was previously engaged to.

“They’re driving my kids, their friends... the talk about violence. They are driving the mothers of my children into their graves, that’s what they’re doing," Carey added. “The vindictive nature of what continues to happen is just wrong.” Carey revealed he spoke to North Melbourne president Sonja Hood to explain the impact the club's video snub had on him.

“I don’t know what you get for murder, but you don’t get this," Carey said. “I spoke to Sonja Hood and I said ‘Sonja, I just want you to know this (video) has caused a kerfuffle and people are talking about it. I don’t sit there saying why didn’t you include me, but I just have to address this constant talk about these things I’ve (supposedly) done in my life, that I haven’t’.

“I guess it’s for my health to get it off my chest, to actually say how I’m feeling and to be a voice for others and say how they’re feeling... I’ve got to a point in my life where I can live with myself and don’t feel guilt about these things anymore. I decided through help and it’s only through help … that I’m not going to live with that toxic shame and that guilt anymore about these things that are written and are untrue."

RELATED:

• James Hird in big career turn as Tim Watson development saddens fans

• New development as Simon Goodwin's family in 'enormous hurt and pain'

Carey claims he pleaded guilty to the indecent assault of a woman in 1996 at the behest of the North Melbourne club but insists he has no recollection of the incident in question. "I categorically don’t remember what happened that night. If I’d known that I had to live with that for the rest of my life, which I have had to do, I would be fighting that today.” He also described claims that he allegedly glassed former partner Kate Neilson as "ludicrous".