"Supporters have a right to have a say," he said. "And if they feel I have somehow fallen short, then they are allowed to say it.
"But I'm also allowed not to pay any attention to it. Not that I don't respect it, I just don't think it is relevant to me.
"Even when people were saying good things about me I wasn't paying attention then either.
"Japan was four years of bliss for me - I couldn't understand the language and couldn't read the papers, it was a beautiful existence.
"Yeah (the scrutiny is intense) but I love that mate," he added.
"You have got to understand where I come from -- I craved this. When I was in Australia, irrespective of what I achieved there it was barely going to raise a ripple. All I wanted was attention -- the right sort of attention where everything I did was scrutinised."