North Melbourne's "shinboner of the century" Glenn Archer is bemused as to why former teammate Anthony Stevens has decided to break his silence about best mate Wayne Carey's affair with Stevens' wife now.
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Archer, who played in the same team as Carey and Stevens and has seen the interview to be aired on Fox Footy's Open Mike on Tuesday, told SEN Radio he was surprised about the timing of the interview considering Stevens had turned down offers of up to $250,000 to talk about an issue that blew the Kangaroos apart.
In what is emerging as a major distraction for North Melbourne as it prepares for a semi-final in Sydney this weekend, Stevens has gone public, re-opening 13-year-old wounds for the Kangas.
In the interview Stevens reveals that Carey has never apologised for his affair with his wife Kelli, a claim Carey disputes.
In a teaser for the show, Stevens says he will never forgive Carey for breaking his trust.
"After it all happened and Kelli told me what had happened, I pretty much agreed or asked to go and see Wayne, which we did," says Stevens.
"He said a couple of words and I told him more or less to stick it and had my piece and I walked out."
Archer said Stevens had been asked to talk about the situation for several years.
"Basically, Mike (Sheahan, the show's host) has been asking him for five years," Archer said.
"He said to him on maybe 10 occasions, 'maybe one day I'll have a chat'. He just decided it's time."
Archer said he had also fielded many calls from media outlets trying to interview Stevens over the years.
"They've offered him as much as $250,000 to talk and he kept saying no. The one thing he doesn't want to do is make money out of something like this," he said.
Archer said it would be "riveting viewing" for the public, but that he'd moved on a long time ago.
However, relations had not been the same with the dual-premiership winning teammates since the sordid saga, Archer said.
"One of the sad parts about it is we won premierships together and when you win premierships you look forward to the reunions," Archer said.
"We'll have our 20-year reunion next year and unfortunately there's Wayne in one corner, Anthony in another corner and a lot of tension in the middle.
"When I watched it, you think about what could have been, because if that didn't happen we'd all still be great mates."
Archer told SEN he bumped into Carey, now a Fairfax Media columnist and Channel Seven presenter, occasionally at football functions.
"I always say hello. I must admit it is still very awkward," he said.
"We were so close for so many years, so it's generally a 'hi, how you going?', then we move on."
