Christian Petracca

[DEE fence 5,039]

We survived our Dusty moment.

There are 3 sports for AFL journalists:

1 Sack a Coach

2 Trade a player

3 Sack a President

Via innuendo and deceit. Trac having issues was true  I concede that (apologies to @Jaded who had a much better take than me) but the media filth pushed this as hard as they could.

[titan_uranus 25,043]

Throughout this whole process I've always wanted him to say, because I have faith in his ability to return to being a top 5 player. He is too good, and too professional, not to IMO.

So my overall reaction to this news is one of excitement, happiness and relief.

Of course, the statement certainly reads like he's saying "I'm not happy, but there's no way I can get out and so I'm staying, and hopefully things improve from here".

However, in combination with Gawn's very well-spoken words yesterday on radio, I can see how we're here, and I hold out genuine hope that throughout this process the club has committed to addressing what are likely very real issues.

The disappointment is that there has been damage done to Trac's relationship with us, the fans (probably the players too but that's harder to assess than simply reading these 228 pages). He was my favourite player. Maybe he still will be, but I know that many Melbourne fans are going to have, in the back of their minds, the thought that he isn't fully committed, or still has an eye on the door, or has his own "brand" higher on his list of priorities than us or the club. 

The way we respond to the issues Trac has raised becomes, IMO, one of the most singularly important things this club has done in decades. If we do this right, this could bring the club together and improve us in ways that otherwise would have continued to be ignored. But if we do this wrong, the hole we'll fall into next year will be far greater than the one we've been in the last two weeks. 

[Graeme Yeats' Mullet 6,778]

Great bloke, great club

Everyone can benefit from some constructive criticism every now and again...

Nothing to see here...

[DeeZee 7,445]

From basket case to flag next year!!!

Here we come and stuff all the other buggers from the media and other clubs ,they can all go and get stuffed!!

Dees forever!!!

Love this club till the day I die!!

[OutOfTheCentre21 180]

LET'S GOOOOO!!!! 

[beelzebub 23,383]

6 minutes ago, DeeZee said:

Thank Christ 

See above 😉

[Billy 2,544]

😳 How do l delete all my recent comments?

[DeeZee 7,445]

Thank Christ 

[MurDoc516 1,529]

36 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

Going to be some incredible backflipping on here.

Yeah. Someone as brand-aware as Petracca surely saw some of the disgusting hate filled comments sent his way. People whinging about his statement for not kissing feet more should probably just be happy he has said something at all.

I've met the kid twice, always lovely and charming, but that doesn't mean I am an expert on his character or anything. Still, no one deserves to be hated on for expressing grievances.

Also, shout out Phil Davis. I know it's basic, but get that guy a gig at the club if he is open to it. 

[Sir Why You Little 37,125]

I said this weeks ago

I am glad he bought up issues he didn’t like. Get them sorted 

This is a warning to the MFC in my opinion 

Take it seriously Demons

[dees189227 12,398]

Firstly thank goodness he isn't going to that filth of a club. I really could not have coped if he was in a black & white jumper.

I think Max may be to thank for a lot of this. They obviously had a really good conversation.  Also I'm not sure if more conversations were held but they may have progressed with others.

Everyone else was talking about tracs future except him. So maybe he had to process things & probably realised he couldn't get a trade done. But I'm glad he did this today.

Honestly I was really thinking he'd say at the start of trade week he wants out.

I hope the club do listen to his issues.

I hope this trade speculation doesn't pop up next year. Not sure what Tom morris does now & what are the journos going to talk about now. 

Glad you're staying trac. Now focus on your recovery. We need you to help us climb up the ladder. 

[Wells 11 5,422]

24 minutes ago, SFebes said:

Just a bizarre situation. Obviously no other club could get close to satisfying Melbourne with a trade. So many questions though....

His brand?

Bigger club? So he rates other clubs better than ours?

Dragging the club through the media and not caring if it burnt down.

How does he teammates feel now?

Plus, you don't just repair all this so called drama in one Saturday afternoon.....

Always more to it. Must realise it cant be done, like I said, so many questions and personally, I won't look at him the same way again. Hopefully it's good for the club as a whole.

Trac was very well loved and will be again. You and I don’t know that he wasn’t speaking for many others at the club with the issues he was raising. So I think relationships will mend… perhaps even deepen. 

One thing about Trac is he’s an absolute professional in the way he prepares. Guys like him are hard to find and give younger players an example. 

Whatever he was pointing at I hope will be addressed properly. The Club had a massive scare here… perhaps it will work in our favour. 

I don’t expect him to be back to his best until late in 2025…but lets all get behind him. 

[mo64 5,881]

I'm expecting a 100 apologies from the Demonlanders who questioned his character.

[Singa 224]

Terrible Branding and PR to drop this on a Saturday Night. This should be prime time. Who is running this operation? Kidding of course. So Happy.

[Young Angus 802]

Love this news, I have faith this is the right thing and onwards and upwards, this will be good and things will get fixed I’m sure of it. 
 

Well played!!

[spirit of norm smith 16,587]

 

Dees supporters everywhere !!! 

[Bombay Airconditioning 6,408]

How much of this can be attributed to the Max Factor?

[dees189227 12,398]

Harry McKay would be slightly relieved to. I bet he was sick of hearing his name 

[Jaded No More 68,973]

Every Melbourne supporter should and will be happy that Trac is not leaving. 
Equally I think we are entitled to be disappointed with how these last few weeks played out.

It was never necessary for this to spill into the media and become a MFC vs Petracca showdown, where ultimately both our club and his brand were dragged through the mud. 

I hope we can move on from this and turn our attention and focus to fixing the problems that need to be fixed.

[Deelectable 1,043]

Still some on her defending there ant Petracca stance. Unbelievable and embarrassing. 

[adonski 12,427]

All of this posturing to just get an extra 2nd rounder from the Blues?

[manny100 1,595]

GREAT NEWS!!!!

We can all get on with it now.

[Lucifers Hero 40,358]

For all those that think Christian's commitment is half hearted and he is staying because he had no choice, lighten up and enjoy what is ahead.  Otherwise it will be a miserable year around here if folks keep playing that song.

Lets remember Richmond fans got behind Dusty, who actively wooed other clubs, no takers, he stayed,

And. the rest is history:  3 Flags, 3 NSM, 1 Brownlow.

Christian is quite capable of doing something similar.  As I said earlier get behind him.

 

 

[BLWNBA 1,123]

I think end of next year will be very, very interesting. 

I personally suspect this has only occurred due to the inability for a trade to be facilitated and the subsequent realisation. Either way, there is a lot of work to be done from both the Petracca camp and the MFC to reconcile and authentically repair relationships. 
 

[bing181 9,328]

Trac could have had all the "robust discussion" etc etc he wanted, but still kept it in house. I'm sure plenty of the players have opinions on what we should be doing better/differently, but only one of them turned it into a media circus.

The one tiny mitigating factor here is that he's still in trauma following his horrific injury and is probably not in a great place mentally (which he has admitted). Still ...

Edited August 31 by bing181