Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca remains no certainty to remain at the Demons after reiterating his frustrations during his season-ending interview with the club.
Petracca has been the subject of intense trade speculation despite being contracted with the club until 2029.
The 28-year-old has publicly stayed silent, but last week spoke with the players about his mental health issues following a brutal injury on King’s Birthday that ended his season.
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Coach Simon Goodwin and Demons football boss Alan Richardson have repeatedly insisted Petracca is going nowhere and will remain at the club long-term.
But there are more questions than answers after Monday’s exit meeting with the club, according to 7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary.
“It’s understood Petracca reiterated his frustrations with the club today and refused to guarantee staying to see out his five-year contract, something the club was hoping would happen,” Cleary said.
“Melbourne says he won’t be traded, but it won’t stop Petracca doing work on a potential suitor before he officially demands a move.”
Cleary added that the Demons’ training base — an hour away in Casey — is just one frustration and that Carlton or Collingwood loom as the most likely destination.
After the loss against the Magpies on Friday night, Goodwin was asked if Petracca had reassured him recently that his intentions were to stay at Melbourne.
“He’s got a five-year contract, so he’ll be seeing it out,” Goodwin replied.
“We’ll catch up in the next few days and have those discussions.
“But where we sit today, he will be at the Melbourne footy club for the next five years.
“They’re the facts, and that’s what will happen.”
Pettacca has struggled with his mental health since suffering a season-ending lacerated spleen on King’s Birthday in June.
He also suffered four broken ribs and spent nearly a week in ICU after copping an errant knee from Collingwood captain Darcy Moore.
The lucratively contracted superstar has since spent some time away from his club in Noosa, during which time it emerged that he was disgruntled with the Demons and would consider requesting a trade, were it possible.
The 28-year-old has stayed silent publicly and is yet to deny those reports.
But Petracca addressed teammates for the first time last week when he opened up on the toll his injury has taken on him.
The Norm Smith medallist immersed himself back into the club last week, but is still a long way off from joining in on training.
Teammate Steven May said last week’s address to the players was Petracca’s first chance to explain why he took time away from the club.
“He was pretty emotional,” May told Channel 7 last Friday.
“It was more so about, he had spoken to the club about (the fact that) he needed some time off, and I think we might have been on an away game that week, so he didn’t get a chance to speak to us himself.
“He just pretty much stood up and told us exactly what he’s going through. He hasn’t missed a game (before his injury) in I don’t know how long — you take that away from someone and it can really take a big toll on you, so he needed some time away, and he pretty much just opened up to us about how he’d been feeling, how he’d been struggling.
“Mental health looks different for everyone, there’s no ‘one size fits all’.
“Some people might be better to be at the club, be involved in a coaching aspect, or some people need to get away and get out of Melbourne.
“It was just good to get some clarity on that.”
