Quote Originally Posted by bloodspirit View Post
I don't agree it was an impressive apology. Nor do I agree that it was not prepared in advance. I do agree that he appears to be genuinely remorseful - although whether he is sorry to Aaron Black or just sorry for what he has done to himself and all the people he has let down, I couldn't say for sure.

A better apology would have:

* spelled out what he was apologising way more specifically (not just "for what happened" - e.g. "I'm really sorry I punched Aaron in the face - I didn't mean to, I lost my cool and meant to whack him in the chest but missed and got his face")
* explained why he acted in the way that he did (without, of course, seeking to justify it)
* articulated what was so wrong with what he did and how he understands that (e.g. with risks of concussion, CTE etc.)
* explained why it won't happen again and what steps he is taking to address the causes of his actions
* offered some more concrete actions he is taking to make things up to Aaron Black.

I suspect the reason he didn't talk more about what happened and why he lashed out was because he was told not to for fear that he might prejudice himself and his hearing before the Tribunal. If that's right, while he is quite entitled to do that and it is quite understandable, it shows that looking after himself was his highest priority. [If you want to draw an analogy with crime, it's a lot like exercising your right to silence with police investigating crime - you're well within your rights but it's not exactly a demonstration of remorse even if you wind up pleading guilty to the charge.] I think while he wasn't reading from a script, he had planned out what he was going to say with input from the lawyers representing him in the Tribunal proceedings (and he may even be looking down at dot points while he is speaking) - and who knows how many takes he did before they arrived at the version that was released days after the events transpired.
Crikey.