Christian Petracca

[Dr. Gonzo 23,682]

26 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Peter Ryan’s article in today’s Age mentions 2 things (verified by 2 separate sources) that help articulate what’s going on.

1. Christian is frustrated by player standards and professionalism, and

2. Players are frustrated that as a senior leader at the club, who has been openly frustrated at them, Christian was in Noosa and not at the club.

If that’s the issue it’s really not difficult to see that once Christian is back driving standards a lot of this simply goes away.

1. Fair enough, he is an uber professional and I would be frustrated too, especially if the slip in standards and professionalism coincides with a fall down the ladder

2. If that's the case they need to grow up. He had an extremely serious injury and is entitled to have some time away from the club to refresh. It's not like he could do much in the way of recovery, mental recovery is just as important as physical.

[Lucifers Hero 38,927]

36 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

2. Players are frustrated that as a senior leader at the club, who has been openly frustrated at them, Christian was in Noosa and not at the club.

Thanks for the summary.  

My reaction to point 2 is Anger which is a very rare emotion for me. 

Numerous times over the years he has played ill or injured eg 2022 finals with a broken leg  This year he nearly died playing injured.  He and Max have carried the club on their shoulders all year.  And, the club approved his trip to Noosa. 

Not sure how long the Noosa trip was  ... my impression was some days rather than weeks.  The benefits to his health and recovery are immeasurable particularly getting away from our freezing weather.  Also, the benefits of getting some clear 'head space' away from the footy fish bowl would be significant.

Only one or two players has stepped up in his absence to support Max.  Where were the rest ... feeling self pity!

 

As a leader he is entitled to be frustrated with players who are not upholding professional standards and he should be supported in that by our other leaders.  Assuming they do why aren't players frustrated at Gawn, Viney, Lever etc.  Is Christian our only leader!!!  Why weren't our other leaders quelling the frustration while Christian was away.  Are our players going soft to be upset about a senior dedicated palyer being frustrated at them!!   Are they frustrated at May who shows his on the field frequently.

If point 2 is correct it seems extremely selfish and a poor reflection of those player's own standards.  Lets hope none of them have to ever go through what Christian has.  And I only hope they show as much dedication to the red and blue as he has. 

End rant!!

Edited August 14 by Lucifers Hero

[BoBo 2,912]

9 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

Thanks for the summary.  

My reaction to point 2 is Anger which is a very rare emotion for me. 

Numerous times over the years he has played ill or injured eg 2022 finals with a broken leg  This year he nearly died playing injured.  He and Max have carried the club on their shoulders all year.  And, the club approved his trip to Noosa. 

Not sure how long the Noosa trip was  ... my impression was some days rather than weeks.  The benefits to his health and recovery are immeasurable particularly getting away from our freezing weather.  Also, the benefits of getting some clear 'head space' away from the footy fish bowl would be significant.

Only one or two players has stepped up in his absence to support Max so where are the rest ... where were the rest?

 

As a leader he is entitled to be frustrated with players who are not upholding professional standards and he should be supported in that by our other leaders.  Assuming they do why aren't players frustrated at Gawn, Viney, Lever etc.  Is Christian our only leader!!!  Why weren't our other leaders quelling the frustration while Christian was away.  Are our players going soft to be upset about a senior dedicated being frustrated at them!!   Are they frustrated at May who shows his on the field frequently.

It point 2 is correct it seems extremely selfish and a poor reflection of those player's own standards.  Lets hope none of them have to ever go through what Christian has.  And I only hope they show as much dedication to the red and blue as he has. 

End rant!!

My question I’d like an answer too:

If OX knew about a bunch of players getting ‘up to no good’ (reads as getting absolutely tanked) in Geelong in the pre-season, did coaching staff also know and if they did, were there any repercussions? If he knew by being told by someone else, it would be strange if it was secluded knowledge to only those two people.
 

If the coaching staff did know and there were no repercussions… why?

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,283]

If that’s the actual issue that really could have been sorted behind closed doors….

Also, if Trac was unhappy with the gameplan, which has been reported but I don’t know if I believe it, then he should have a think about last years finals. That game plan ultimately should’ve won us both games but the players couldn’t execute, himself included. I definitely want us to play with a bit more freedom, but the game plan wasn’t the issue, it was our execution and that’s on the players.

[SPC 3,475]

20 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

Peter Ryan’s article in today’s Age mentions 2 things (verified by 2 separate sources) that help articulate what’s going on.

1. Christian is frustrated by player standards and professionalism, and

2. Players are frustrated that as a senior leader at the club, who has been openly frustrated at them, Christian was in Noosa and not at the club.

If that’s the issue it’s really not difficult to see that once Christian is back driving standards a lot of this simply goes away.

This is not a hard fix. Get everyone together and thrash out the issues. I would ask the players for input on the game style. Then plan out and execute our biggest preseason yet.

Behind the scenes I would look to change some coaching personnel. Refresh and go again

[rufus 1,046]

2 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

If that’s the actual issue that really could have been sorted behind closed doors….

Also, if Trac was unhappy with the gameplan, which has been reported but I don’t know if I believe it, then he should have a think about last years finals. That game plan ultimately should’ve won us both games but the players couldn’t execute, himself included. I definitely want us to play with a bit more freedom, but the game plan wasn’t the issue, it was our execution and that’s on the players.

Absolutely on point 1. In the end, the way this has come out has hurt the club in a big way. It might spark some necessary action, but it's going to make it really hard to convince good players from other clubs to join us.

And on point 2 you could not possibly hit the nail more squarely on the head imo.

[The heart beats true 17,737]

20 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

If point 2 is correct it seems extremely selfish and a poor reflection of those player's own standards.  Lets hope none of them have to ever go through what Christian has.  And I only hope they show as much dedication to the red and blue as he has. 

I think, and it’s only a theory, that young ambition men without a lot of life experience being openly criticised for a lack of professionalism by a peer would sting - and this is what they latched onto as a response.

Conversely the devil makes work for idle hands, and we are now seeing that play out publicly for the second year in a row.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,419]

The weird thing here is that all of this gets played out in the public arena.

The Clarry situation, the being floated for trade.

And now Petracca seemingly angry about his treatment by club during injury or being frustrated with other players slacking off/up to no good, a divide between the professional players and the party boys. 

None of this being out in the public will solve the issues. In fact it's likely to worsen them, put off potential trades to the club and entrench positions. 

 

[Lucifers Hero 38,927]

9 minutes ago, The heart beats true said:

I think, and it’s only a theory, that young ambition men without a lot of life experience being openly criticised for a lack of professionalism by a peer would sting - and this is what they latched onto as a response.

Conversely the devil makes work for idle hands, and we are now seeing that play out publicly for the second year in a row.

So it seems.

We aren't running a nursery for sooky players.  If they want a premiership medal they need to know what it takes on and off the field.  And who better to learn that from than our NSM.

And why are such players blabbing to someone(s) who are going to tell the media.  Naive and disloyal of them.

I would be extremely disappointed if Christian didn't have the support or our leadership team and coaches in trying to lift professional standards.  They need to fly the flag with him.

Edited August 14 by Lucifers Hero

[dazzledavey36 52,704]

What a [censored] show.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,419]

1 minute ago, dazzledavey36 said:

What a [censored] show.

Yeah tis a pity that we thought that once we had a premiership the old - care about furniture or now partying more than footy - Melbourne would be gone...

[Superunknown 4,054]

The article:https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/behind-melbourne-s-fall-back-into-the-abyss-20240814-p5k2de.html

 

12ft.io is your friend.

Paywalled on Firefox/iOS, not paywalled on Firefox/desktop. Firefox reader may help.

 

An interesting article. 
 

I don’t begrudge Christian time in Noosa. He has a very serious incident. The comparison with Melksham is inapt in my view.

This is a very, very, messy affair now.

We have blown multiple shots at the flag and it’s difficult not to feel there’s something deeply amiss at present.

[Norm Smith's Curse 2,419]

For players to be going semi public tells me that what ever has happened - be it player conflict, differing standards, no dh policy no longer in action, etc it tells me that the damage is seen as beyond repair. 

[biggestred 4,772]

having read most of this it seems like instead of being selfless team first players, half our team are selfish me first players. 

until that changes we can look forward to being garbage.

[demoncat 917]

7 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

So it seems.

We aren't running a nursery for sooky players.  If they want a premiership medal they need to know what it takes on and off the field.  And who better to learn that from than our NSM.

And why are such players blabbing to someone(s) who are going to tell the media.  Naive and disloyal of them.

I would be extremely disappointed if Christian didn't have the support or our leadership team and coaches in trying to lift professional standards.  They need to fly the flag with him.

I agree that Trac had every right to spend time away however he pleased - I can’t imagine the trauma he went through at the time of the injury and the difficulties he’s faced since 

He’s also got every right to call out poor standards - he’s just about the most professional athlete in the AFL when it comes to training standards and I imagine it would frustrate him if his teammates weren’t holding up their end of the bargain when it came to their professionalism 

Having said that, the sense I got from the article is that both before and after his injury, Trac has been making his frustrations known not just internally, but to others across the industry (or at least has contributed to the industry becoming aware of his frustrations) 

Pete Ryan also wrote about him being highly emotional and making decisions that have ‘raised eyebrows’

Don’t get me wrong - I love Trac and everything he has done for the club, but between this article and Sam Landsberger’s report that the ANB news leaked from within the playing group, it doesn’t take much to conclude that there’s a chance that Trac has been at least somewhat involved in all this information being aired publicly

Pls be nice 🫣

[Lucifers Hero 38,927]

4 minutes ago, Norm Smith's Curse said:

For players to be going semi public tells me that what ever has happened - be it player conflict, differing standards, no dh policy no longer in action, etc it tells me that the damage is seen as beyond repair. 

Whatever 'no dh policy' we had imv was blown up when we recruited Hunter.  What was publicly known should have been enough to not go anywhere near him.

Slippery slope!

[Jaded No More 67,609]

I wonder if the players' frustration with Trac going to Noosa, is not that he went there to recover, but that while he was away from the club he continued to be annoyed at the standards on display, despite not being inside the 4 walls.

It's one thing to demand better when you are leading by example, another when you are removed from the situation.
I think Gawn would be entitled to be annoyed if his standards are being questioned, when he's also battling injuries and playing as well as he possibly can, or take it personally as an attack on his captaincy. 

I am not saying it's right or wrong, I am just trying to see it from both points of view.

Either way, it doesn't seem like anything that can't be resolved with a chat and a good pre-season. 

If standards are slipping, and I have no doubt they are, then the only way to fix it, is to be honest and admit that changes need to be made.

 

[Jaded No More 67,609]

4 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

 

Sadly, this episode me of the player discontent with Viney when he was captain because he expected high standards.  He paid the price by being demoted.

I think it's very harsh to suggest that Gawn doesn't demand high standards, considering the player he is and that he led us to a flag. 

I think Gawn just goes about demanding standards in a manner that appeals to more players than Viney did.

[Lucifers Hero 38,927]

1 minute ago, Jaded No More said:

I think it's very harsh to suggest that Gawn doesn't demand high standards, considering the player he is and that he led us to a flag. 

I think Gawn just goes about demanding standards in a manner that appeals to more players than Viney did.

You completely misinterpreted what I said.  I made no such implication let alone suggestion.

 

[Gawndy the Great 9,008]

10 minutes ago, demoncat said:

I agree that Trac had every right to spend time away however he pleased - I can’t imagine the trauma he went through at the time of the injury and the difficulties he’s faced since 

He’s also got every right to call out poor standards - he’s just about the most professional athlete in the AFL when it comes to training standards and I imagine it would frustrate him if his teammates weren’t holding up their end of the bargain when it came to their professionalism 

Having said that, the sense I got from the article is that both before and after his injury, Trac has been making his frustrations known not just internally, but to others across the industry (or at least has contributed to the industry becoming aware of his frustrations) 

Pete Ryan also wrote about him being highly emotional and making decisions that have ‘raised eyebrows’

Don’t get me wrong - I love Trac and everything he has done for the club, but between this article and Sam Landsberger’s report that the ANB news leaked from within the playing group, it doesn’t take much to conclude that there’s a chance that Trac has been at least somewhat involved in all this information being aired publicly

Pls be nice 🫣

I dont think your far off the mark. We will never know 100% and so there will be those on here that will come after you, but it does appear that the main instigator of all of this has been Trac or those around Trac. I do understand his motivations but there are other ways to do this than the limelight. Its also possible that those around him have influenced his actions heavily of which i think he will eventually realise that it wasn't the right thing to do. 

He is contracted to do at least one more AFL 360 interview and has regular media gigs so his absence/presence will say a lot in the next few weeks. 

[dazzledavey36 52,704]

21 minutes ago, demoncat said:

I agree that Trac had every right to spend time away however he pleased - I can’t imagine the trauma he went through at the time of the injury and the difficulties he’s faced since 

He’s also got every right to call out poor standards - he’s just about the most professional athlete in the AFL when it comes to training standards and I imagine it would frustrate him if his teammates weren’t holding up their end of the bargain when it came to their professionalism 

Having said that, the sense I got from the article is that both before and after his injury, Trac has been making his frustrations known not just internally, but to others across the industry (or at least has contributed to the industry becoming aware of his frustrations) 

Pete Ryan also wrote about him being highly emotional and making decisions that have ‘raised eyebrows’

Don’t get me wrong - I love Trac and everything he has done for the club, but between this article and Sam Landsberger’s report that the ANB news leaked from within the playing group, it doesn’t take much to conclude that there’s a chance that Trac has been at least somewhat involved in all this information being aired publicly

Pls be nice 🫣

Ageee 100%

As Jordan Lewis said, good clubs keeps this in house without the leaks etc.

From the article 

The 28-year-old has not been able to keep his sense of dissatisfaction with the club to himself, with teammates, opposition players and industry figures increasingly aware of his feelings as he recuperated from the life-altering injury suffered on King’s Birthday.

It's damning and incredibly disappointing to read that Petracca is airing and venting his frustrations about the footy club to opposition players and industry key figures.

I get he's an emotional person but this is very poor look.

[chookrat 4,201]

1 hour ago, The heart beats true said:

Peter Ryan’s article in today’s Age mentions 2 things (verified by 2 separate sources) that help articulate what’s going on.

1. Christian is frustrated by player standards and professionalism, and

2. Players are frustrated that as a senior leader at the club, who has been openly frustrated at them, Christian was in Noosa and not at the club.

If that’s the issue it’s really not difficult to see that once Christian is back driving standards a lot of this simply goes away.

To speculate further on us speculating about the journos speculation it would make sense that Oliver's challenges which come to a head late last season have had some impact on some sections of the playing group and how they approached the 2024 season. I'm hopeful a longer break without games in September will help the playing list attack the 2025 preseason and that we will see the best version of Oliver - as good as his footy has been over the years I think he has another level.

[The heart beats true 17,737]

7 minutes ago, Jaded No More said:

I wonder if the players' frustration with Trac going to Noosa, is not that he went there to recover, but that while he was away from the club he continued to be annoyed at the standards on display, despite not being inside the 4 walls.

It's one thing to demand better when you are leading by example, another when you are removed from the situation.
I think Gawn would be entitled to be annoyed if his standards are being questioned, when he's also battling injuries and playing as well as he possibly can, or take it personally as an attack on his captaincy. 

I am not saying it's right or wrong, I am just trying to see it from both points of view.

Either way, it doesn't seem like anything that can't be resolved with a chat and a good pre-season. 

If standards are slipping, and I have no doubt they are, then the only way to fix it, is to be honest and admit that changes need to be made.

 

I totally agree with this. It’s seems like fault can be attributed everywhere, but also that when everyone gets on with their jobs a lot of the issues can solve themselves.

I do think it’s very unnecessary for it to play out publicly, just as I did when the family was unhappy. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to look at where the information could be coming from.

[Jaded No More 67,609]

7 minutes ago, Lucifers Hero said:

You completely misinterpreted what I said.  I made no such implication let alone suggestion.

 

My apologies, you suggested that Viney was demoted because he demanded high standards. That suggested to me that Gawn was then made captain because he didn't have the same demands. 

Viney is still VC and has been for many many years, probably because he demands high standards.

I don't think Viney was demoted because of what he was demanding, but because of how he was demanding it. That's just my take, but of course I wouldn't know for sure.

[praha 11,100]

Maybe it's just me but after reading the Peter Ryan article, it honestly seems to me like we have a classic case of too many high performers clashing heads. I've managed teams of 20+ people over more than a decade, if there is one constant it's that your best performers are also often your most disengaged and disillusioned, especially where there is internal clash with leadership and management styles. I learnt a lot during those moments and discovered that you either need to give those people an outlet to flay their arms about, or you ultimately need to help them move on. Wrapping their arms up and trying to silence them is the worst thing you can do. There is a really good example of this philosophy in Phil Jackson's book, he also touches on it in The Last Dance documentary, particularly in dealing with Michael Jordon's leadership style and Dennis Roman's *ahem* interests. 

There seems to be some conflict there between the top 10-20% of players and leaders, this is going to be a big test for Gawn and Viney, and certainly Goodwin.