This might seem trivial in light of his club's dire predicament, but Gary Ablett's decision to peddle his sorry state of affairs on TV on Thursday night rather than front the media for free on behalf of the Gold Coast says so much about his difficult relationship with the Suns.
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And his too often poor attitude.
Even though he is no longer captain of the club - and even when he was so many of his public appearances came with financial or marketing caveats - surely this was not the week to try to sell himself exclusively to The Footy Show.
Instead of taking responsibility early in the week as the speculation around Ablett multiplied, Suns two-gamer Michael Barlow sat in the media glare and it was left to him to respond to questions about his disgruntled teammate.
More disappointingly, Ablett also tried to restrict a scheduled Thursday Gold FM local radio appearance - a duty as part of his considerable marketing agreement with the club - to a line of questioning that avoided his form and future.
Whether on this occasion he was trying to protect The Footy Show or was avoiding the issue, Ablett has altogether too often failed to understand the demands that come with his exceedingly generous deal.
His status as a champion remains intact, but not his authenticity as a leader or at present a team player. But back to the deal. A three-year $3 million deal Ablett pushed for and haggled over for months in late 2014 and well into 2015. A deal with the best part of two seasons remaining. A deal he will have to relinquish should he achieve his wish of last year and ultimately end up back at Geelong.
And the Geelong scenario is puzzling. The Cats looked at taking Ablett as a boon from left field last year, but the Suns never looked like entertaining the prospect. And why would they having already lost Dion Prestia and Jaeger O'Meara? But come 2018 Ablett will be one year older - he turns 33 next month - and will have to accept a massive pay cut. Could he justify $500,000 - half his current wage?
The Cats can see that Ablett is not in peak physical shape even aside from his dirty day against GWS. And no player over 30 can hope to extend their careers unless they are in the best possible shape.
Even then, Ablett poses a risk to a club with a bursting salary cap given his age and injury toll of the past three seasons. The 2001 draft was a mighty one - Ablett was taken at No.40 under the old father-son rules and only five players taken ahead of him remain in the game: former teammates Steve Johnson and James Kelly, along with Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Leigh Montagna.
His marketing value alone in the romance of the return to Geelong is in his favour although - speculating - were Ablett to return to that mint fully fit condition following a pre-season back at Simonds Stadium, what does that say about current commitment up north? Symbolically, what does it say about the AFL's pioneering spirit to the Gold Coast community?
Even though he delivered four brilliant seasons for the Gold Coast Suns it is not right for Ablett's management to continue to point the finger at the club and blame them for letting Gazza down.
They blame poor coaching, recruiting, player development, medical and high-performance personnel. And they blame the poor culture at the Suns. But right now all that deflected responsibility is just more evidence of the wider blame game going on in the brand spanking new facilities at Metricon Stadium.
The club's CEO, Mark Evans, must be getting bruises from all the finger pointing as he forensically sifts through the rot and searches for answers.
The fact remains that Ablett took the money and now it seems is not prepared to stay the course.
Ablett might have walked away from premierships to cultivate new frontiers, but he must take some small shred of responsibility for that poor culture even if his on-field brilliance could not be faulted.
