Former North Melbourne forward Drew Petrie has opened up on the incident in 2014 where he was strangled by Hawthorn defender Brian Lake.
The two were brawling on the ground after a tackle when Lake put his hands around Petrie’s throat.
The 332-gamer reacted by going for Lake’s face and was suspended for one week himself for the action.
“I had to grab and effectively punch him in the face a couple of times to get him off me,” Petrie told SEN’s This is Your Sporting Life.
“I couldn’t breathe for a moment and that’s when I knew I had to react and I did what I did and I was really disappointed that I was suspended for it.”
Petrie doesn’t think he should’ve been suspended for the action as it was in self-defence.
“I was really disappointed that the tribunal at the time handed down that punishment to me for just I guess trying to defend myself, I was lying flat on my back,” he said.
“I think that suspension irked me more than Lake’s actions in the first place.”
After taking the sanction to the tribunal, Petrie was confronted by Lake’s legal team and described that as something that bothered him more than the incident itself.
“What irked my as well is that I was approached by the opposing legal counsel prior to the hearing and they implied that I was making it all up and that it wasn’t as serious as it was and can I help (Lake) out and all that stuff,” he said.
“I nearly saw red. I nearly threw a chair at the opposing legal counsel, but that person managed to walk out the room and that made me a bit more angry.
“It’s the players code out there and you look after each other, but to be approached, and for it to be put in front of me that I might be carrying on a bit really got under my skin.
“Only after the fact did I realise he was implying that I was weak of character and challenging my character, I guess in the way I had to react in the game.”
Petrie says he and Lake are now on speaking terms.
“We’re fine, we talk, there’s no dramas there.”
“You see it all the time, players who have had run ins getting on fine.”
Drew Petrie will be on This Is Your Sporting Life for Tobin Brothers Funerals, celebrating lives, on Sunday. Tune into SEN1116 at 10am.
Watch the incident here: