Melbourne forward Tom Bugg feared his AFL career was over in the aftermath of his sickening behind-play hit on Sydney's Callum Mills.
The 24-year-old copped a six-game suspension - the biggest handed down in more than a year - for knocking out Mills during their round 15 clash at the MCG.
Mills was cleared to play the following week, but the backlash to what Sydney forward Tom Papley labelled a "dog act" was fierce.
Addressing the incident in depth for the first time, Bugg said he was not an aggressive person but conceded his image had been badly damaged.
"At the start I didn't look at social media ... when I did take a look at Instagram, there were hundreds of messages," Bugg wrote on the Players' Voice website.
"There was some disturbing stuff, people saying they hoped I got hit by a car, hoped I got cancer. It was pretty full-on.
"One was a guy writing about someone in his family having been the victim of a one-punch incident.
"I hadn't really thought about it until that moment, the damage I could have done."
Bugg maintained he had intended to hit Mills in the chest, rather than the head, but said it was the wrong thing to do either way.
He called Mills to apologise and check on his health, and said it was a credit to the Swans midfielder that he took the call and accepted his apology.
Overlooked for selection upon returning from his ban, Bugg wondered if his solid but unspectacular career was over.
But a conversation with Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin on his first day back at the club put him at ease.
"He said 'it will reach a point where the incident will be put aside, and you'll be picked on your merits'," Bugg wrote.
"That's all I could ask."
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