Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca has given teammates a pep talk, expressing to them his strong belief that the Demons are capable of a major resurgence in 2025.
Petracca made his private comments to the Melbourne players back in November, at a training camp in Bright, when skipper Max Gawn also had what were described as “heart-to-heart” discussions with the players, according to three sources, speaking anonymously, who were either present or familiar with events at the camp.
Christian Petracca is all in on season 2025.Credit: Getty Images
Petracca was “very bullish” about what the Demons could achieve in 2025, addressing how they could get better, while also speaking of the role he could play this year within the team, after a terrible 2024 in which a badly injured Petracca expressed unhappiness with the club’s direction, star teammate Clayton Oliver seriously explored a trade to Geelong and the Demons fell down the ladder and embarrassingly short of finals.
The Bright speech to the players was the second occasion that Petracca has addressed the players in a matter of months, the midfielder having spoken to the group about the trauma he had endured – he suffered a lacerated spleen, punctured lung and four broken ribs on King’s Birthday against Collingwood and missed the remainder of the season – after his return to the club late in the 2024 season.
But the critical difference in the speeches to the group was that on the first occasion, Petracca was explaining his own traumas – the serious nature of the injuries and how he coped. Petracca was also signalling then that he was back in the fold.
In the second speech in Bright, at a camp to reset the Demons for 2025, Petracca’s focus was on the team, and what could be achieved if they dedicated themselves in 2025. According to one source, Petracca made plain that the group simply had to do better, in what was described as a motivational address.
In this second speech, Petracca did not discuss the events that led to him questioning the club’s direction following his King’s Birthday incident, in which he was sent back on to the field briefly with what the player later discovered were broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and a punctured lung – injuries that took a significant emotional toll on the champion.
Petracca’s speech at Bright was part of a process, led by leadership consultant Ben Crowe – best known for his role as mind coach/mentor for tennis champion Ash Barty – in which coach Simon Goodwin told the players that there was no point putting their runners on for a time trial until all involved in the team had an opportunity to say their piece.
That Petracca was willing to stand up and speak – and to express optimism about the Demons’ prospects of surging back up the ladder, having contended for the flag in 2021 (premiers), 2022 and 2023 (failing to win a final in 2022-23) – could be read as a sign that he had put his disgruntlement with aspects of the club firmly in the past.
Petracca has been in recovery from a broken rib suffered at training – in the same rib area that was badly hurt in the King’s Birthday game when Darcy Moore collided with him in a marking contest. He is about a week away from full contact training, according to a club source, and has been completing much of the training with the group.
Melbourne’s leaders, headed by Gawn, had been examining themselves after the disappointing 2024, irrespective of the club-wide review that followed the season of tumult, in which Oliver’s troubled pre-season and absence saw him subsequently struggle for form and to explore a trade to Geelong.
The Demons’ difficulties saw president Kate Roffey step down, along with chief executive Gary Pert, with new president Brad Green and his designated successor and fellow former player Steven Smith driving the search for the new CEO.
