Brock McLean says he was led to believe Carlton and Mick Malthouse still wanted him before abrupt exit

LISTEN NOW: DUMPED Carlton midfielder Brock McLean has taken a parting shot at his old club, accusing it of misleading him.

Carlton v Essendon at the MCG

DUMPED Carlton midfielder Brock McLean has taken a parting shot at his old club, accusing it of misleading him.

McLean was told during his post-season interview with coach Mick Malthouse that another one-year contract would be his, only to be delisted weeks later.

The 28-year-old left for Europe certain he’d be playing a 12th season, but instead got a call from Blues football manager Andrew McKay while in London to inform him he was being delisted.

McLean, who spoke to the Herald Sun on Thursday after returning to Australia, stressed he wasn’t bitter about his career ending. But he was angered by the mixed messages and took aim at Malthouse.

“No, Mick hasn’t called me. He might call me in the coming days, but he hasn’t yet and I guess that’s been pretty disappointing,” McLean said.

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“I’ve never been delisted before, but I would have thought it would be a normal thing for the senior coach to call the player he has delisted. I don’t know why he hasn’t called me.

“I’m just disappointed about how it all played out and particularly the process. I was told one thing and my manager (Adam Ramanauskas) was told another. There was just no transparency.”

McKay defended the club’s position, saying an unexpected influx of new players forced their hand. The Blues this month acquired GWS pair Kristian Jaksch and Mark Whiley, along with Western Bulldog forward Liam Jones.

“It just came down to numbers and unfortunately for Brock, we just picked up more players in the trade period than what we thought we would,” McKay said.

“With Whiley, they are similar players and that played into the decision as well. Brock was disappointed and it is always disappointing for a player when you get told that sort of thing.”

McLean, made a No. 5 draft pick by Melbourne in 2003, played 94 games for the Demons before crossing to the Blues in exchange for pick 11 (Jordan Gysberts) where he made a further 63 AFL appearances.

“I wouldn’t change anything about my journey. Obviously we’re all in it for the ultimate success and that’s winning premierships. It would have been nice to feature more at that time of the year, but that’s footy. There’s been some great highs and some big lows along the way, but I’ve just been so lucky.

“I’ve had an amazing time playing AFL and I’ve just been telling people that I’ve been so fortunate because I got to live my dream. It’s a dream I’ve had since I was four years old.”

McLean said he was open to playing on at another club, but admitted it looked unlikely and said he was content with moving to live a “normal life”.

“The most exciting thing after all this time in a professional sport, is not knowing what’s coming next,” he said.

“I love travelling and meeting new people and I’m doing some work with Price Waterhouse Coopers so we’ll see what happens.”

LISTEN TO McLEAN’S SEN INTERVIEW IN FULL BELOW

Originally published as Brock McLean says he was led to believe Carlton and Mick Malthouse still wanted him before abrupt exit