Champion Melbourne midfielder Christian Petracca has split with the AFL’s most prominent player management company only months after the most tumultuous period in his career.
Petracca, who inked a lucrative seven-year contract extension in early 2021 to tie himself to the Demons until the end of 2029, has left Connors Sports – whose clients include Nick Daicos, Bailey Smith, Clayton Oliver and Charlie Curnow – to instead be represented by talent and partnerships professional Anna Scullie.
Petracca in action for the Demons during the pre-season.Credit: Getty Images
Scullie is also the wife of retired AFL great Eddie Betts.
Petracca, who was the Norm Smith medallist in Melbourne’s drought-busting 2021 premiership, remains committed to the club, a Petracca media representative told this masthead.
Connors Sports founder Paul Connors declined to comment. Petracca’s brother, Julian Petracca, is an accredited agent at Connors Sports.
The last business Petracca and Connors Sports agent and partner Robbie D’Orazio did together was a deal with yoghurt company and Demons club sponsor YoPRO, which started this month.
Petracca raised concerns last year about Melbourne’s culture and said he did not feel supported enough in the aftermath of life-threatening and season-ending injuries he sustained against Collingwood on King’s Birthday.
This masthead reported in August that Petracca told teammates and Melbourne officials of his wish to play for another Victorian club, but only days later he issued a statement via the club where he reaffirmed his commitment to the Demons.
Scullie intends to become an AFL accredited agent in the near future. She had a special dispensation to oversee contract talks for ex-Blue and Crow Betts as his wife, and for Geelong forward Tyson Stengle as his legal guardian.
Scullie negotiated the five-year extension that Stengle signed in June last year to stay at Geelong.
Christian Petracca at the opening of the Penfolds Birdcage marquee at Flemington before last year’s Melbourne Cup carnival.Credit: Elke Meitzel
She has worked with Team Petracca since August last year, supporting the Melbourne star’s wife, Bella Beischer, in securing some of his non-football commercial deals, particularly with his ever-growing cooking empire On Trac 5.
They had worked together with D’Orazio and Connors Sports on some deals, but the switch to Scullie will streamline Petracca’s affairs.
The AFL Players’ Association confirmed that Scullie would not be able to act as his agent for football contract negotiations – if required – until she was accredited. However, players can nominate whoever they want, such as marketing agencies, to represent them for commercial or brand deals.
Petracca’s media representative confirmed the management change in a statement to The Age.
“Christian Petracca has informed Connors Sports Management of his decision to part ways with the group. He would like to express his sincere gratitude to the CSM team for their support throughout their partnership,” the statement read.
“He continues to remain committed to Melbourne and is looking forward to round one.”
A source familiar with personal endorsements explained to this masthead the rules when a player signs a commercial deal with a brand for salary cap purposes, specifically in Petracca’s YoPRO case.
He appears on YoPRO packaging in his Melbourne jumper and kicking a Sherrin football, so those payments must be lodged under additional services agreements (ASAs), which enable players to earn extra income beyond their base salary for promotional and marketing activities.
Each club has a cap on the total amount it can spend on these agreements.
However, Petracca also appears in a YoPRO Instagram video in normal clothes without any AFL “intellectual property”, such as a jumper or logo. In that case, the 29-year-old can accept money outside ASAs.
The same source said commercial deals could be split in this way.
This masthead contacted the AFL about Petracca’s YoPRO deal, given the company is a club sponsor, and separately confirmed the league ticked off the commercial arrangement and that there were no salary cap implications for Melbourne.
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