“I’m the idiot”: Gorringe remorseful for Docherty gaffe

Dan Gorringe has shown some contrition and remorse towards his good mate Sam Docherty after he was banned from a Carlton event.

The situation blew up when the Blues cancelled the former co-captain’s scheduled appearance at a pre-game function prior to this Thursday night’s Round 1 clash with Richmond at the MCG.

It came after Docherty’s brutal criticism in the wake of their 63-point loss to Sydney in the season opener last Thursday night.

Since Gorringe aired the audio on Dan Does Footy - which caught Docherty somewhat unawares - there has been a fair bit of backlash with several media identities condemning the actions of the ex-Blue and Gold Coast Sun.

Gorringe admits he does feel bad that Docherty was punished for his mistake, but maintains his stance towards the ‘old man media’ who were offended by the audio.

“Sam Docherty is a genuine Carlton legend. The guy has given everything to the football club through the best times and the worst times, through injuries, cancer, leadership, the lot. He's the definition of what a Carlton person should be,” Gorringe wrote on DDF's IG page.

“I’m the idiot.

“I didn't think, I played a voice note of him criticising the game plan and it's led to him being dropped from a Carlton function. That's the part that sits the worst with me.

“Doc should be celebrated every time he walks into a Carlton event.

“At the same time, it's pretty clear there are some people in old man media who have been waiting for a moment like this to come after what we're doing at DDF. That's fine.

“We understand disruption ruffles feathers.

“It also makes me upset that the club feels like this is the best remedy to help our current situation. Sam Docherty has given too much to Carlton to be caught up in something like this.

“I hate that my stupidity has played any role in this situation.

“We'll learn from it, we'll be better for it, and we'll keep doing footy the way we believe it should be done.”

Docherty stood by his criticism of the team although he didn’t think the audio file would be played publicly, especially with so many expletives.

Gorringe explained the fallout on his podcast on Monday.

“Didn’t we p--s off some old man media,” he said on Dan Does Footy.

“The Doc audio is on me. I played it because it was just refreshing to hear and I thought it was a great take. It was good to get some knowledge and insight from what was actually happening in the core from someone who has been it.

“It wasn’t a PR, media-trained answer. We all thought it was really cool to hear.

“That’s where I want the new media space to go, instead of being this monotone, s--t answer industry where you just walk around in circles.

“The headline should have been, ‘Guy says what everyone is thinking out loud’. Instead it turned into ‘I’m the worst person in the world, how could I dog a friend’.

“I thought it would be ok and we’re in a place where we can have those thoughts out in the public, but clearly we’re not because old man media says so.

“With the audio being played I said to Doc, ‘Hey, haven’t thought about this one, but the audio has come out. It’s not even bad what you said. The core of what you said was not that bad, you just swore a bunch of times. Are you ok with that? If not, let’s sort it out’.

“He goes, ‘Man, I stand by what I said, let’s deal with it when we deal with it’. So he wasn’t mad. And then these rats get second-hand mad. You can’t get second-hand mad at something if the first hand isn’t mad. That’s insanity. That is wild.

“You dumb muppet rats. These rats didn’t get it and they hated it and it came from me.”

But Gorringe wasn’t exactly remorseful when he took aim at the likes of Gerard Whateley, Caroline Wilson and Leigh Matthews despite saying he respected all three.

Matthew Lloyd wasn’t exactly spared, however.

Lloyd was critical of Carlton's list before Gorringe pointed out that it was his brother Brad who was the long-time list boss.

Reprehensible behaviour

Gerard Whateley criticised Gorringe’s choice to air what were meant to be private comments about Carlton's Opening Round performance made by Docherty on his podcast.

The former Sun and Blue turned content creator was dissecting the Blues' 63-point loss to Sydney on his Dan Does Footy podcast on Friday.

During his recording, the 33-year-old played an audio clip from his former teammate, with Gorringe having asked him to help explain why Carlton fell away in the second half once again.

Docherty, who retired last year from Carlton, provided a frank assessment about how his former side was beaten on Thursday night, using several expletives, believing that his comments would be used as background and not publicly aired.

While the former Carlton co-captain stands by the comments he made, he did express regret for the language used and apologised for it.

But for Whateley, he thinks that these sorts of comments after just one round of football feed into what he describes as a ‘doom loop’ surrounding Carlton.

“The problem, I think, and it was there immediately watching that third quarter,” he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.

“Carlton fans turn up in big numbers, but those bays were half empty at three-quarter time.

“They’re going to create a doom loop around that club.

“And it’s so hard to guard against, other than you can’t get caught in the doom loop.

“And this is why normally the nonsense in the modern media is pure nonsense.

“But Sam Docherty just feeds the way that’s been depicted, it feeds the doom loop to fever pitch after one game.”

Whateley then criticised Gorringe directly, believing it was reckless to use the audio clip in the manner that he did.

“That’s just reprehensible behaviour,” Whateley added.

“I know you don’t want to stand inside the media, but there are actually parameters that guide what goes to air and what doesn’t, and what’s private and what’s public.

“And just because you want to crash through what things have always been, you can’t do that.

“I think that is disgusting behaviour.”