Regrets are for fools, a least that is what I think. For me what you are today is a product of everything you have done in the past to lead you to now. It doesn’t mean that you wish you didn’t do stuff. I am sure there are a few people behind bars that probably agree. At least I am man enough to admit when I have made a mistake.
Last year I talked about a situation which for me was old news but relevant with my thoughts at the time. I talked about my suspicions of a player using something that was illegal. Now I have never mentioned the player’s name in public until now. When channel 7 decided to tell the world who they thought I was referring to I couldn’t have been more disappointed. Here was a player through no fault of his own being branded without any proof. How would I have felt if I were in Braun’s shoes? Well not very happy would be an understatement.
In the end it was ugly for everyone. Braun is branded, I am labelled a dobber and the media let some good people down. Braun naturally wanted his name cleared and wanted someone held responsible. A legal fight was his best answer. Defamation is a tricky thing and very hard to prove but of course I was accused of being involved. So on the 15th of January my legal team along with Channel 7 boss Ian Johnson sat opposite Braun’s legal team. For most of it the meeting was very legally based and not much interaction between myself and Braun. After about an hour of tooing and froing I asked my lawyer to ask Braun if he was interested in a private chat. Just him and me. He lawyers said I don’t think that Michael would go for that. But we said can you ask anyway. And sure enough he was happy to have a private chat. As we sat there I spoke of my disappointment for this whole affair. I also spoke about my sadness for him because in the end it was the last thing I wanted.
He spoke about the strain of having his named mentioned nearly every time the West Coast’s name was mentioned about drugs. As he was describing his work ethic to become a better runner because of his height I couldn’t help but think I made a mistake. My suspicion was probably nothing more than a bit of envy. I supposed he just work a little harder than I did at the time. After we spoke about his knee soreness because guess what, he runs a lot I knew I had pointed my finger in the wrong direction.
I wrote this article because I didn’t think it was right that this man should be branded in any way anymore. This time egg is on my face and I can live with that. It doesn’t mean we are anything more than competitors and it doesn’t mean West Coast players won’t make life tough for me when we play them next. That’s life.
To me Michael came across as a genuine man and wanted to be remembered as a hard working but fair player who got everything out of his ability. When we were finishing up I told him that he would probably have very little respect for me but I told him I respected him a great deal both as a player and person. I apologise to him without any reservations. I am truly sorry for the hurt and trouble I have caused him. I just hope one day he can forgive me for the trouble I have caused.
This article has been published pursuant to an agreement reached by Michael Braun, Jason Akermanis, Channel 7 and 3AW.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Western Bulldogs or the AFL.
