Delisted Carlton midfielder Brock McLean has fired a parting salvo at the Blues, claiming he was led to believe he would be receiving a new contract as recently as his end of season exit meeting.
28-year-old McLean, who was delisted earlier this week after five years at the club after six seasons at Melbourne, suggested the club, including coach Mick Malthouse, misled him.
"I went to Mick about four-to-six weeks out from when the season was finishing. I just wanted to have a chat about where things were at and where he saw me and what he thought about me going on next year," McLean told radio station SEN.
"He was of the view that he wanted me around next year and that I was a required player."
"I walked away from that thinking 'great, I want to play on next year, and it sounds like Mick wants me here next year'.
"My exit meeting at the end of the year probably went even better. (Assistant coach) Rob Wiley was very positive, Mick was very positive, so was (fitness chief) David Buttifant, so I walked away with the view that there was going to be a contract next year and I was very confident."
Things changed however when McLean received a text message from his manager Adam Ramanauskas.
"I was sitting in a bar in Copenhagen...and all of a sudden I got a text from my manager Rama and he just said 'I don't like where this is going, it's now more likely that you're not going to get one than likely'.
"(Football manager) Andy McKay rang me after that and we had a pretty heated discussion and he basically said the same thing that Rama said.
"The last morning I was in London I got a call from Macka again saying we're going to delist you.
"I'm certainly not angry or bitter... I'm just disappointed with how it was all handled - how I was told one thing and Adam Ramanauskas was told another thing."
The 157-game veteran indicated he had not had any contact from Blues coach Mick Malthouse since receiving the news.
"I would've thought as a senior coach he might've got on the phone."
"I said to Macka: 'I would've rather you said to me 'listen we want you around here next year but we just don't know.""
McLean said he had been told by McKay that the club's trade activity changed the landscape.
"Andy said they got more places in through the trade period than they would have liked, and that was the reason I got squeezed out."
Carlton acquired GWS pair Kristian Jaksch and Mark Whiley, along with Bulldog forward Liam Jones during the trade period, as part of an overall Blues strategy to lower the club's average age profile.
The club has also been strongly linked with Dogs livewire Jason Tutt, and delisted Swan Matthew Dick, and is likely to recruit them in the pre-season draft and delisted free agency window respectively.
McLean said he was "open" to continuing his career at another club, but seemed resignedto an apparent end, saying "that everything happens for a reason" and "life goes on."
"I enjoyed every part of my career."
The Blues have offered McLean the chance to come back to Visy Park for a proper farewell.
