Petracca proud but it’s side before self
GRAND Final hero Christian Petracca has revealed the reason why he “tucked” his Norm Smith Medal away during Melbourne’s premiership celebrations, saying he didn’t want his individual award to overshadow the team-first ethos that swept the Demons to this year’s flag.
The star midfielder was the unanimous winner of best afield honours after his 39disposal masterclass, as the Demons ended a 57-year premiership drought.
But after accepting the award immediately after the match, Petracca put his medal away for safekeeping and partied the night away with his
premiership medal around his neck instead.
“I tucked the Norm Smith (Medal) away because we are built to be selfless,” Petracca said at the TAB’S Virtual Spring Carnival Launch on Tuesday. “The award is an individual award, you don’t play footy for individual awards. It has my name on it, but it should have everyone’s (name on it).
“I got here in 2014. I saw years that we were down as a team, but you look at Gawny (Max Gawn) and (Nathan) Jones, they have been through the dark years.
“And our fans had been waiting since 1964.”
He was exceptionally proud of winning the medal
named after Norm Smith, a legendary Melbourne figure, but as proud as he was, he didn’t want his individual award to put him above his teammates.
Petracca said the past few days had been the best experience of his life, but said he was keen to see if the Demons could back it up at the MCG next season.
“(Winning) is a lot better than I thought,” he said.
“I knew winning a premiership would be the best day of my life, but it’s times 30,” he said. “The best moment was going back on the ground after the crowd was not there, with all the team and the staff.
“The MCG is the home of
footy, it is the mecca of the AFL. (Perth) Stadium was unbelievable, it was one of the best nights I’ve ever had. It was like a coliseum.
“But hopefully we can come back (at the MCG). We can’t wait hopefully to be playing finals next year and hopefully Victoria opens up, so we can be back playing there.”
Petracca, 25, revealed he will return home to Melbourne on Thursday, eager to share the experience with his family and girlfriend.
He hasn’t thought too much about what might come next for the Demons, other than his belief that the club is seeking to have sustained success.
“We want to create a sustained culture within the team over the next four or five years,” he said. “You look at teams like Geelong, Hawthorn and Sydney … what they have done over the last 15 years in creating a culture (has been incredible). They love playing finals.”
Petracca said the younger Demons had gone “too hard too early” in the celebrations, but said the ‘old hands’ such as Max Gawn and coach Simon Goodwin had been stayers.
“Everyone has had their better moments,” he said. “Gawny’s been unbelievable. Goody’s second, the young boys went too hard, too early. I tried to tell them to pace themselves, don’t drink too much, but they didn’t listen.”