Brock McLean insists he's not a sook but he doesn't care if that's the way he's perceived.
At 28, the Carlton midfielder knows he's a "year-by-year prospect" but right now he's just focused on getting his season back on track.
The year didn’t begin well for McLean and in an exclusive interview withAFL.com.au he's revealed he'd reached a low point in his career.
"I'm not feeling the pressure, but early on in the year I probably wasn't enjoying football as much as I have in my career, so that was a little bit of a battle for me and my form probably reflected that as well," McLean said on Friday.
"I'm 28 now, so I'm under no illusion that I'm a year-by-year prospect and footy these days is a pretty cut-throat industry and I'm fully aware of that.
"At the end of the year we'll sit down and we'll have a chat about the future but right now that's not on my mind."
McLean revealed he still doesn't know what was making him unhappy, but he's made changes and they've worked.
"I don't know, I couldn't put a finger on it. It got to the stage where it was a little bit hard coming in everyday. I don't know, I just wasn't enjoying the things that I used to pride myself on," he said.
"(I've) just taken a more relaxed approach to a lot of things.
"When I come into the footy club, do my work, do what I have to get done, still work hard and do all those sorts of things, but once I get away from the footy club just completely switch off and there's nothing about football involved at all."
McLean has only played four AFL games so far in 2014. He was dropped after the Blues loss to Richmond, where he was critisised for staying on the bench after being subbed rather than listening to Mick Malthouse's three-quarter-time address.
"I was actually unaware that you could actually walk out on the ground as a sub," McLean explains.
"(It was a) complete misunderstanding, but that's what the media do, they talk about irrelevant points.
"If I was actually a sook, I would have sooked three years ago when I was getting best on ground in the VFL every week and not getting a game in the AFL. I never sooked once then, so all of a sudden why am I going to start now.
"So that was a little bit bemusing, but as I said I don't care what other people think so they can talk about me all they want."
After being thrashed by Collingwood, the Blues are now preparing for Monday night football against St Kilda.
All up it's a 10-day break, and McLean says he and his teammates are not a fan of the timeslot.
"I think the worst thing is just waiting around to play the next game," he said.
"You know it was a pretty bad loss, people seem to quickly forget and you seem to quickly forget about it if you've got a shorter turnaround like say a six day break, you've quickly got to turn your focus to the next team.
"To be honest, I don't think many players at this club are a fan of it. It's just waiting around all weekend to play, but it is what it is and you have to go out and play."
