Former Melbourne captain Brad Green says he still feels “sick” and “ashamed” of the Demons’ record-breaking loss to Geelong that cost the late Dean Bailey his job.
A limp Melbourne was on the receiving end of a 186-point thrashing from Geelong in Round 19, 2011. It remains the second-biggest loss in the history of the game.
The catastrophic defeat shone a light on a club besieged by bitter in-fighting.
In a dramatic series of events, then-CEO Cameron Schwab had been sacked before the Cats game only to be reinstated when the Demons chose to sack Bailey after it.
In the latest episode of Uncovered, Green says his old club sacked the wrong man.
“Any business or organisation when you’re doing those things you’ve got to stick to your guns,” Green told Uncovered.
“At the time when you’ve got a playing group totally united behind Dean Bailey and you’re fighting tooth and nail - and people would say we didn’t fight tooth and nail in that Geelong game and I’ve got no comeback for that because the scoreboard is the scoreboard.
“I’m still ashamed of the game today. We, and I, definitely took full responsibility for Dean getting sacked and the way the club went down was something that still doesn’t sit right with me to this day. I feel sick about it really. It cut deep.”
The latest episode of Uncovered also reveals:
GREEN’S memory of a Sunday night phone call from Bailey in which the coach tells him: “Mate, they’ve got me”.
THE players’ understanding on the Friday before the game that Schwab was gone. AN ailing Jim Stynes’ dogged determination to smooth the waters.
STAND-IN president Don McLardy’s confession it was the “most difficult period of my life”.
GEELONG star Cameron Mooney’s recollections of a day that “wasn’t good for football”.
SCHWAB’S late-night trip to the home of McLardy where he was told he would be reinstated.
THE quirky cameo from marathon legend and Demon fan Steve Moneghetti on a tumultuous weekend.
Uncovered is a new podcast series that seeks to pull back the curtain on some of the biggest stories in VFL/AFL history.
You can listen to the latest episode of Uncovered in the player below: