Petracca's Road to Damascus

[Sanctorum]

I decided to share this story in yesterday's Australian by Jon Ralph, a lengthy profile of Christian Petracca's Road to Damascus - because it reveals that irrespective of what the club does to prepare a recruit for the AFL, ultimately it is up to the individual player to take firm control of his destiny. If I were on St Kilda's coaching panel I would make this required reading for every player on the list:

"Melbourne star Christian Petracca has taken a few years to start showing the potential he has always promised and expects to keep getting better
Christian Petracca’s vast football ambition knows no bounds. He is happy for you to know he wants to be the best player in all of football. Before his career is out, he would love to become the captain of Melbourne Football Club too.

At any previous point in Petracca’s career, you could be forgiven for thinking those statements
came from a brash, cocksure kid talking the talk before he walked it.

Demon Petracca seeks to be a player for the ages - Yet perhaps the best proof of his new-found maturity, after a physical and emotional
transformation the past two seasons, came not with a brilliant on-field deed.

Instead as Petracca fought back tears after the club’s last-gasp win against Geelong to seize the minor premiership, it was his capacity to acknowledge the victory was about so much more than him or his teammates.

“That’s for every Melbourne fan who has been embarrassed to wear the Melbourne footy club logo,” he said in an on-ground interview that spoke volumes of his perspective.

Petracca tells News Corp from the club’s Joondalup base that part of the maturing process has been realising how much pain Demons fans have endured.
“It’s very obvious that Melbourne fans ride the journey with us,” he said. “When we are frustrated, they are frustrated. “My emotion after the Geelong game was really raw. What we had done was something we hadn’t done since 1964 and it was pretty full on. It was a big deal. “Fans come up to you in the street and say, ‘I was one year old when we won our last premiership’. As a young kid, I was like, ‘whatever mate’. But when you get to my age, a bit older,
you start to understand the journey they have been on, so it means a lot to me.”

So what was that seismic moment where No.2 overall pick Petracca turned from impetuous and unfulfilled kid into one of footy’s most dominant forces?

He said it was realising during the five-win 2019 season that he could be so much more than he was producing. “You come to an age where you question who you want to be, your purpose and your why,” he said. “I had a good hard look at myself. It got to a point in my life where I wanted to change as a person. I think that’s the way to put it. When you look in the mirror, who do you want to be?

“It takes time for people. My output in games frustrated a lot of people. As in, ‘he should be better than he is’. People mature at different times and that’s the journey I am on. “I had to change a few things off the field, I had to be a bit more selfish off field; 2019 was a really good transition into what it takes to be a 24/7 athlete.

“I went away with (Christian) Salem to America on a Nike camp and backed myself in and put in the work. There is no surprise why people play well. The reason I am so confident in my game is the work I put in. “Not many people see it. But the decisions I’ve made helped me become the person I am today.”

For 25-year-old Petracca, that light-bulb moment of staring himself in the mirror kickstarted a series of changes that have helped realise his stunning potential. First came the elite fitness base that still prioritises explosive power over slow-burn endurance, but the player once only capable of eight-minute midfield bursts is now surging hard at the final siren. “It was a conscious effort of putting myself around people who are better runners than me, and
to understand if you want to be a better runner, you train with the best. “So you train with Salem or Max Gawn or Adam Tomlinson. Darren Burgess has made me understand my strengths. It’s about power and explosiveness. I needed to be a better runner… but my strength is still pretty awesome.”

Partner Bella Beischer came into his life and immediately became a calming and motivational presence. “Bella has been an amazing support. She came from a tennis background so she understands elite sport and she has been unbelievable with her approach with me over the last few years, she has been amazing,” Petracca said.

Perhaps as profound has been his mastering of the mental side of his game.

“I have got a better understanding of high performance. I love my mindfulness and meditation. It was something I used to think was a bit of a joke, or a wank, to be honest,” Petracca said. “We used to do a fair bit of it with Tami Roos at the club and I had so much energy, I could never sit still for five minutes and I could never understand what the hell was going on. “Now I realise the mental side is so much more important than the physical part. “I did the bulk of the work in the (10-week AFL) break from Covid after round 1 last year. I see life differently. I am a lot more grateful, I don’t see the negatives. I was someone who was like, ‘why can’t I do this’. When you worry about the future or past you tend to get anxious.”

When all were losing their heads around him in Melbourne’s mediocre 9-8 season in 2020, Petracca’s breakout season was being underpinned by mornings on the beach resetting himself. “In the Maroochydore hub I got into a morning routine. I would wake at 6am or 6.30am, sit on the beach listening to mindfulness music or a podcast. I think the hub was the best thing for me,” he said. “It slowed me down. I realised it’s OK to relax and be a bit present with yourself.
“I have calmed down. I am less chaotic, less frantic, less stressed too. It was a frustrating time in the hub last year with the team but I learned so much individually about myself.

“Being next to the beach made me calm and collected and there will always be times when you have negativity, when doubt pops into your mind, but it’s about putting it to the side and compartmentalising it.”

It is with the context of what has changed in Petracca’s life that he can speak about his ambition to be footy’s best player without coming across as arrogant.
“Yeah, for sure. I want to get the best out of myself. It’s my career, so I want to get the best out of myself, but being the best player in the comp requires me to win big games and premierships. I can’t wait for the opportunity to do that. “The first step in your career is to play games, then you want to play 50 and 100, and then you just want to win. You don’t care about stats or individual awards, you just want to put this team on the map and put it in a position to win.”

Petracca spoke with excitement and wonder of Max Gawn’s brilliant leadership and of Clayton Oliver’s capacity to unlock the secret to team football. Clayton’s a perfect example. The more you give to the team, the more you get back as a player. I am just grateful to be his teammate on and off the field.”
The same could be said of Petracca, whose ability to buy into the defensive side of the game had coach Simon Goodwin hail a trio of chase-down tackles in a midyear win over Port Adelaide.

It is why considering Petracca as a future Melbourne captain makes sense given his charisma and unique blend of leadership. He bleeds red and blue, he recognises exceptional leadership – “the way Max leads is just perfect” – and he wants to drag Melbourne to greatness. “One hundred per cent, of course I would like to be,” he said when asked whether he would like to captain the Demons one day. “This club has so much history. It is an absolutely amazing football club and I have signed on for a long time, until I am 60,” he said with a chuckle of a six-year, seven season extension. “To be captain of this footy club would be one of the proudest moments of my life. “I have always felt like I have had leadership qualities in me. “I know that I had some maturing to do, but deep down I have always had leadership in me – my energy is great, I get around the boys a lot and hopefully one day it happens.” ‘I have calmed down. I am less chaotic, less frantic, less stressed too’"

[asiu]

“I have got a better understanding of high performance. I love my mindfulness and meditation. It was something I used to think was a bit of a joke, or a wank, to be honest,” Petracca said. “We used to do a fair bit of it with Tami Roos at the club and I had so much energy, I could never sit still for five minutes and I could never understand what the hell was going on. “Now I realise the mental side is so much more important than the physical part.”

free your mind
and your arse will follow

[B.M]

Star player

Melbourne got handed a gift by us

I rate him #2 player in the comp

[cwrcyn]

Ancient history now. It was 2014. We need to move on. What's done is done, as painful as it is to watch. Thankfully, those responsible are no longer at the club.. Since 2018 we've been so much better, so we should have confidence that our recruiters and football/list managers will get it right again this year and next. Since the departure of the previous recruiting manager, in three draft years we have picked up:

King
Bytel
Wilkie
Hill
Ryder
Howard
Jones
Butler
Byrnes
Connolly
Highmore
Sharman
Crouch
Higgins

Not since the 2000 to 2003 draft years have we recruited and traded for that many AFL standard players. Mind you, we had much better draft hands back then, so the comparison is not equal.

[Wayne42]

Jon Ralph.

AFL gossip.

[minneapolis]

The recruiters at the time thought he was an immature wanker (and he has admitted that he was) who would have been a gamble.

McCartin was much better mentally and personality-wise.

Oh well.

(BTW who was the immature wanker we picked at #9 some years back. Perhaps that outcome was what spooked the recruiters).

[kosifantutti]

What’s Damascus prepared to give up to get him?

[CURLY]

Same recruiters that took Toumpas over Wines. Scully and Trengrove over Dusty. Some times you get lucky.

[SuperDuper]

Nah but he failed the psych test.

I mean...what a load of pseudo scientific bulls___.
No doubt the club payed big bucks for the moron snake oil salesman who made that report

[CarlD]

Trying to judge an immature kid in a psych test would seem to be a fraught process at the best of times. Would imagine there have been plenty of disagreements over confidence vs arrogance. Buckley was nicknamed FIGJAM for a reason.

A club is made up of people of all types of personalities. Do the Saints over-rate the "comes from a good family" aspect?

Would rather be happy that someone can play good football and be satisfied there have not been significant off-field troubles.

[Wayne42]

Do the Saints over-rate the "comes from a good family" aspect?

That's all Trout knew about recruiting.
The club chucked him in the job and crossed their fingers he wouldn't stuff it up.

[Toy Saint]

I'm just old enough to remember watching Ron Barassi, and Petracca kind of reminds me of him.

[saynta]

I'm just old enough to remember watching Ron Barassi, and Petracca kind of reminds me of him.

Yeah me to. Especially enjoyed seeing a 17 year old Carl Ditterich playing his first game towel Mr Football up and at one stage tap the old bugger on the head. Sort of rubbing the hiding in.

Years later I told Barassi I remembered that incident but Barassi said and I quote "never happened". Yeah it did.

I think early dementia was on show even then.

Teddy Whitten was the real Mr Football. I was never a Barassi fan. His coach and mentor, Norm Smith even had to create a new position for him. Too small for a follower and too tall for a rover. Hence the birth of the ruck rover.

To me Petracca is already a more complete footballer.

[Sanctorum]

Barassi in his day was a sensational footballer, always aggressive and unyielding in the contest.

Also really admired his coaching where he displayed the same character traits in an era where the coach was highly respected and even feared! The way he developed the lamentable North Melbourne FC into a premiership team was no mean feat.

Petracca is certainly heading in the Barassi/Whitten direction but imho he's not quite there yet....he will need to have a blinder if Melbourne are going to win on Saturday night because Footscray's midfield is in hot form.

[Wayne42]

Barassi's coaching career was very successful at Carlton and North Melbourne.
He was still reasonably successful in his final year at North in 1980 with 14 wins.

But his coaching jobs at both Melbourne and Sydney after that were failures, he was no longer the messiah.

[B.M]

Just goes to show

Great teams make a difference

[saynta]

Barassi in his day was a sensational footballer, always aggressive and unyielding in the contest.

Also really admired his coaching where he displayed the same character traits in an era where the coach was highly respected and even feared! The way he developed the lamentable North Melbourne FC into a premiership team was no mean feat.

Petracca is certainly heading in the Barassi/Whitten direction but imho he's not quite there yet....he will need to have a blinder if Melbourne are going to win on Saturday night because Footscray's midfield is in hot form.

The ten year rule helped at North. The roos ended up with Davis, Wade and Rantell. Three of the best footballers going around. Without them Barassi would have been toast.

[sunsaint]

Just goes to show

Great teams make a difference

or the game moved on from his tyrannical ranting...?

[sunsaint]

remember when Dusty threw that pencil at the wall in the chinese restaurant when his contract was up for renewal ???
What a pratt

Now imagine Dusty & Petracca rotating through middle & forward lines

[Sanctorum]

The ten year rule helped at North. The roos ended up with Davis, Wade and Rantell. Three of the best footballers going around. Without them Barassi would have been toast.

That's right saynta but they wouldn't have gone to North if Ronald Dale had not been their coach....

[saynta]

The ten year rule helped at North. The roos ended up with Davis, Wade and Rantell. Three of the best footballers going around. Without them Barassi would have been toast.

That's right saynta but they wouldn't have gone to North if Ronald Dale had not been their coach....

Maybe. But he wouldn't have won a flag without them

One is a maybe, the other a certainty. As I said before I am not a fan.

He once berated me for not being all that pleased if the swans beat the saints. He said to me surely you would not begrudge the swans a win. I said that I certainly would.

I always found him to be aloof, cold and certainly unfriendly.

My father though liked him and had played footy with his father before the war.

The last straw for me when was when he broke one of the ten commandments. You know the one about not coveting your neighbor's goods. Didn't stop the asswipe from stealing Plugger, whom he coveted from the day of the Peter Caven incident, notwithstanding that he had flamed Plugger in the press the day after.

My motto, never forgive and never forget.

[B.M]

Yet to see a poor team win a premiership

Seen poor coaches win them though


Coaches who won a premiership and whose results were ordinary elsewhere

Barassi- Melbourne/Sydney
Walls - Brisbane
Parkin - Fitzroy
Jeans - Richmond
Blight - StK
Pagan - Carlton
Sheedy - GWS
Malthouse - Carlton
Thompson - Essendon
Roos - Melbourne
Eade- Gold Coast

Every great premiership coach has one thing in common - they coached great teams!

Another point
What were the results like in the last two or three seasons for
Matthews
Lyon
Clarkson??