Leigh Matthews speaks on his hit on Neville Bruns

AFL great Leigh Matthews has revealed his levels of self loathing over one of football’s most notorious hits.

The 1985 incident. Picture: Supplied.

AFL legend Leigh Matthews has labelled his infamous king hit on Geelong’s Neville Bruns as the “worst thing I ever did”.

Matthews was deregistered four weeks by the VFL and charged with assault for the incident by police which broke Bruns’ jaw off the ball in 1985.

The incident has forever overshadowed the career of who many believe to be the greatest player of all-time.

Matthews was not initially reported for the punch before TV replays pressured the VFL into having the Hawks star charged with “conduct unbecoming”.

“I felt unbelievably guilty. I always played very vigorously, but that was the worst thing I ever did,” Matthew said.

“I thought, ‘if football can make you do that … if the person (you are) out there can make you do that, never play footy again.’ The self-loathing was severe, but you’ve got the victim suffering the physical consequences.

“Even in your own sight, you think, ‘why did I do that’, and I still haven’t got an answer.”

Appearing on LiSTNR’s Howie Games podcast with Mark Howard, Matthews recalled 1985 being a poor year “because I was fading as a footballer”.

The punch on Bruns played a key role in the then VFL introducing trial by video.

“The ageing body and a strong competitive instinct can be a dangerous combination,” Matthews said.

“Back in this era, you had to get reported by an umpire. There was no trial-by-video. There was some vision of it that was getting played in the news bulletin, but the AFL didn’t act because they didn’t have a mechanism to act, which is why the police got involved.

“I ended up having to go to court because I got charged with assault. There was a Magistrates Court, and I pleaded guilty.”

Matthews recalled a conversation with Hawthorn’s legendary coach Allan Jeans.

“He said, ‘Don’t let that be the last thing people remember you by’,” Matthews recalled.

“It was a terrible thing I did, and I’ve always believed if you do the crime, do the time. Whatever happened, I deserved.

“The way football seems now it seemed so repugnant; but even then, it was repugnant.”

Originally published as Leigh Matthews speaks on his hit on Neville Bruns