HE’LL GO DOWN IN DEMONS FOLKLORE
First to win club legend’s medal
HOURS before playing the game of his life, Christian Petracca was practising his kicking. Melbourne was at Perth Stadium for a team walk, taking in the surroundings of where the club would later end its 57-year premiership drought, and there was Petracca having set shots and working on his ball grip.
The star midfielder was not putting in the extra effort only because he was preparing for his first grand final. Petracca has caught up with midfield coach Adem Yze on days off this season in a bid to improve his kicking. The 25-year-old has said he felt he was a reasonable set shot, but he wanted a bit more dexterity with his feet around the ground.
So they practised different types of kicks and worked on his grip, which was similar to how he would handle a basketball – his other main sporting love.
“It was really casual (catchups), but it shows he puts in a lot of effort in his game,” Yze said. “He puts a lot of pressure on himself.
“We went for a walk this morning around the ground and he was doing some set shots and just working on his grip.
“He gets rewarded for his hard work.”
On Saturday night, the payoff for his efforts was a maiden premiership and a Norm Smith Medal.
Melbourne had not snared a flag since Smith was coach in 1964 and none of its players had claimed the grand final award named in his honour.
Smith is a Demons legend as a 10-time premiership winner, six as a coach, four as a player.
Petracca has one flag, but after collecting an equal grand final record 39 disposals and kicking two brilliant goals on Saturday night, he will long be remembered for his role in ending the club’s drought.
“He’ll go down in folklore,” Melbourne great Garry Lyon said.
“He’s going to be one of the all-timers.”
Petracca’s rise from potential to bona fide star was cemented last year when he finished equal-third in the Brownlow Medal and captured his first best-andfairest.
This season he received another award as the standout player on Anzac Day eve.
“He obviously had a terrific year last year and he just understood that talent was one thing and work rate was another,” Yze said.
“Adding those two things together, he got a real good understanding of how hard he needed to train to become a superstar of this comp.
“He then tried to emulate that at the start of the year with the way he prepared and he did the same.
“He’ll keep improving for the next four or five years.”
Housemate Charlie Spargo said: “You can see in the last couple of years he’s clearly made a shift with his professionalism and his maturity and he’s gone to another level.”
Petracca also cited off-field changes for his on-field improvement.
“I’ve just got a great balance of knowing who I am, why I want to play footy, my purpose,” Petracca said.
That balance comes from things like his love of sneakers, basketball and his family.
Petracca’s first post-game phone call was to his girlfriend, Bella, whom he said provided amazing support.
Then to his parents, Tony and Elvira, back in Victoria.
“They’re bitterly disappointed they can’t be here but they’re super proud of myself and the footy club,” Petracca said.
“It’s been a long journey and they’ve been on this journey since I got drafted.
“There were a few tears from myself, a few tears from everyone.”
The emotion typically associated with Petracca is happiness. Teammate
Harry Petty described him as a social person who loved making everyone smile.
“He’s the loudest bloke and funniest bloke at the club – it’s just his personality,” Petty said.
Spargo said Petracca was a fun, big kid who was also extremely humble.
Yze called him one of the easiest players to coach and someone with a heart of gold. “It’s not just about
him,” Yze said.
“He works hard on his game but he’s trying to bring others with him.
“Tom Sparrow and James Jordon, they look up to him and he put a lot of time and effort into them, and he’d feel pretty proud the way they’re playing.
“He’s a terrific leader for the footy club.”
Petracca is said to lift people around him with his care and enthusiasm – off the field and on the field.
When he kicked his mercurial, dribbling right-foot goal from the pocket in the third quarter to put his side 12 points ahead, Yze could see that his teammates were energised from it.
Those sorts of goals are not something Yze and Petracca tend to practise during their catch-ups, but the midfield coach knew the one on Saturday night was going through.
“He’s actually very good at those kicks – I’d nearly back him in to do that more than a set shot 40m out,” the 271game ex-Demons star said with a laugh.
“He’s a big-game player. When the game’s in the
balance, he wants the ball in his hands.
“Our midfield were terrific and he was just the cream on the top.”
Although he worked extremely hard before and during the game, Petracca allowed himself to enjoy it, particularly when the Demons began to push clear during a one-sided last quarter.
“(During the last quarter) Maysy kept yelling at me for smiling, saying ‘effing focus’,” Petracca said. “I said, ‘we’re up, just smile a bit’.
“I didn’t want to look back at this week win or lose and say I was a nervous wreck.
“I wanted to absolutely enjoy this week and have fun with the people I love being around.”