Risk will lead to reward: Petracca
MELBOURNE star Christian Petracca has backed his team to take more risks and be less “boring” as they march towards a finals series as premiers.
The Demons arrested a three-game losing streak with a blistering showing against Brisbane last weekend, demolishing their fellow flag hopeful by 64 points.
But as Adelaide awaits on Saturday, Petracca said there had been a key shift by the flag winners to reignite the spark in their offensive game.
“We just need to keep backing who we are and have a bit of fun and a bit of risk with it,” Petracca said.
“I think with offence we might have been a bit slow and a bit boring with it, so for us, to have a bit more excitement to the game, as players and fans we love that.”
Former Melbourne skipper Garry Lyon said last week the team’s delivery up forward had been “a bit of a disaster”, with “no imagination” in attack.
Petracca – who has kicked nine goals this season – played more forward against the Lions last weekend, but maintained that the blame could not sit solely on the team’s forwards.
“Last week, we went a little bit smaller … and we got a lot of speed back,” he said.
“I think it’s a bit unfair that Ben (Brown) and a lot of our forwards are copping a bit of flak.
“One, the delivery hasn’t been great over the last few weeks, so as mids we put ownership on us.
“But also the structure we played with probably wasn’t the one we wanted.
“(Coach Simon Goodwin) over the bye weekend recognised that and changed a few things up.”
Petracca unwittingly became Goodwin’s captive audience recently after the team’s bye weekend, ending up on the same late-night flight back from the warmth of Noosa.
The premiership midfielder said he was struck by Goodwin’s dedication to watching vision on the plane home from the team’s Queen’s Birthday loss to Collingwood from a week prior, “and he even called me up the plane to watch it with him”.
“He’s one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever met,” he said.
Melbourne remains favourite to claim this year’s premiership, with Petracca admitting he may even be hungrier for a second bite of the cherry after success last September.