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6 months ago
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Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton has questioned whether the AFL as a community did enough to help former Fremantle star Cam McCarthy who was found dead in Perth on Friday.
Emergency services discovered the former AFL player from Fremantle and GWS Giants near Lake Coogee in Perth after being called there around 6.15pm on Thursday.
Throughout his AFL career from 2014 to 2020, McCarthy struggled with mental health issues, which gained public attention.
He left the Giants at the end of 2015, a year before his contract ended, and was later traded to Fremantle after initially being denied a trade request during the 2015 trade period.
In 2016, he was granted indefinite leave by the Giants to deal with his mental health closer to his family.
McCarthy's career faced further challenges when he collapsed during training in 2020 due to epilepsy, and despite being medically cleared to play, Fremantle did not renew his contract at the season's end.
Five-time premiership winning Hawthorn star Dermott Brereton has questioned whether enough was done to help former Fremantle star Cam McCarthy
The former Hawks star and AFL commentator was moved by the tears of Nat Fyfe and other former teammates of McCarthy
Brereton used to work with McCarthy at GWS and questioned whether he could have done more to reach out to the troubled star
The Dockers and Sydney Swans put together a tribute for McCarthy before their clash at Perth Stadium on Friday night with former teammates
Brereton was left shattered by the death of his former protégé he mentored during his early years at the GWS Giants.
The five-time premiership winner helped develop young forwards at the Giants, had a special fondness for McCarthy and questioned whether enough support was provided to him.
'It moved me (on Friday night) to see Alex Pearce and Nat Fyfe just breaking up,' Brereton said on SEN.
'It was tremendously sad.'
'He was just a really beautiful young man who lost his way … (he) had some issues internally himself. To the McCarthy family, please accept mine and our heartfelt, deepest commiserations.'
Brereton remained in touch with McCarthy after he had left the Giants and moved back to Western Australia to play with the Dockers.
'I haven't spoken to him for probably two to three years and obviously a lot has transpired in that time,' he said.
'His (phone) number is still on (my) phone … I looked at it this morning (Saturday) and gazed at it and thought, knowing what has happened, 'have we done enough … have I spoken to him enough?'
'Not that I (was) deep in his life but he would call me after he left the Giants and ask me stuff, when he was at Fremantle.'
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