Player Watch #5: Christian Petracca – Norm Smith Medallist, 4 x All-Australian and 2 x Best and Fairest

[saj_21]

He needs to get fit. Real fit, before what your talking about happens, regularly. Before he becomers a Star.

I think the bigger thing for trac is confidence to take the game on he looked like he did that yesterday. The goal taking on jones along the boundary, I think at the start of the season he would try a dinky little 10m
Chip to some one and do the team thing. I want to see him have more shots on goal.

Don’t disagree he needs to get fitter, but don’t think he will ever be an endurance beast.

 

[Proper Gander]

I think the bigger thing for trac is confidence to take the game on he looked like he did that yesterday. The goal taking on jones along the boundary, I think at the start of the season he would try a dinky little 10m
Chip to some one and do the team thing. I want to see him have more shots on goal.

Don’t disagree he needs to get fitter, but don’t think he will ever be an endurance beast.

Maybe Tommy out might force him to lift a bit. When he plays with confidence and swagger he looks great.

Also he needs to bring back that tongue out thing after goals. I feel sure it helps him somehow

 

[Grimesy87]

Have felt most of the year that he is going well, but those set shot problems inside 35, and those stupid 7m Kicks were taking the gloss off. People remember the f ups a lot of the time.

Not sure if he will ever be Dustin Martin 30 and 3 a game, but I'm more than happy he's on our team rather than facing him. That head knock was unfortunate timing yesterday as well, he hardly got near it after.

 

[Dancing Potato]

The intensity is there and so is the talent occasionally.

He's been building slowly but steadily over the course of the year. It's been constant (but gradual) improvement.

Hopefully he can get a full pre-season in to work on his body and fitness base. Then I'd like to see more of him in the middle so he can find more of the ball more consistently.

 

[Crusty Demon]

I think he's been ok without being great. If his set shots were solid, i reckon we'd be all giving him a tick this year..

 

[Deelighted]

He's too unselfish and the 10m dink passes are frustrating when you see what he's capable of when playing on instinct and backing himself.

 

[Topkent]

Before everyone declares him a success his issue has been he often follows this up with going missing for 3 weeks.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

Have felt most of the year that he is going well, but those set shot problems inside 35, and those stupid 7m Kicks were taking the gloss off. People remember the f ups a lot of the time.

Not sure if he will ever be Dustin Martin 30 and 3 a game, but I'm more than happy he's on our team rather than facing him. That head knock was unfortunate timing yesterday as well, he hardly got near it after.

Dusty has had 30 and 3 twice in his career. Once in 2011 and once in 2015.

 

[SugarHealey]

I think the bigger thing for trac is confidence to take the game on he looked like he did that yesterday. The goal taking on jones along the boundary, I think at the start of the season he would try a dinky little 10m
Chip to some one and do the team thing. I want to see him have more shots on goal.

Don’t disagree he needs to get fitter, but don’t think he will ever be an endurance beast.

Confidence is a transient thing, come see come sa. I think you mean 'self-belief' to belong at the level. He did that a year or more ago.
I think he hasn't been happy at Melbourne, and I've been watching his behaviour's closely, when around the players during celebrations, etc. He is reserved often, when celebrating.

IMO Tracca is a lazy type, like many of my euro mates. They do not actually like pulling the finger out. They all need a rocket under them to get them to be ready for any work.

Tracca strikes me in this vain. So in this mind, I think he is best served by not giving him too much of a big head, or he will lay back again, like he does when kicking.

My mates swing between believing in themselves, and feeling insecure. This happens to spoilt kids with their mum's doing everything for them.
They struggle amongst other men, hoping for some lavish praise from others, so they can feel good about themselves. Then they sit back down again, having been given what they required.

The hunger for effort and hard work isn't strong in this type of person.
Just my take and observations, take with a pinch of salt.

He has a lot of talents, but not so good on work-rate and efforts.

These are tease type players. Not so dissimilar to watts, in mindset.

 

[saj_21]

Confidence is a transient thing, come see come sa. I think you mean 'self-belief' to belong at the level. He did that a year or more ago.
I think he hasn't been happy at Melbourne, and I've been watching his behaviour's closely, when around the players during celebrations, etc. He is reserved often, when celebrating.

IMO Tracca is a lazy type, like many of my euro mates. They do not actually like pulling the finger out. They all need a rocket under them to get them to be ready for any work.

Tracca strikes me in this vain. So in this mind, I think he is best served by not giving him too much of a big head, or he will lay back again, like he does when kicking.

My mates swing between believing in themselves, and feeling insecure. This happens to spoilt kids with their mum's doing everything for them.
They struggle amongst other men, hoping for some lavish praise from others, so they can feel good about themselves. Then they sit back down again, having been given what they required.

The hunger for effort and hard work isn't strong in this type of person.
Just my take and observations, take with a pinch of salt.

He has a lot of talents, but not so good on work-rate and efforts.

These are tease type players. Not so dissimilar to watts, in mindset.

I think you are generalising there, basing your opinion of Petracca on your friends who may share the same ethnicity, it is clutching at straws. I think Petracca is a bit of a kid at heart, he is good mates with Clarry and whilst they are talented footballers i don't think there concentration spans match AFL requirements (which has its good and bad points - they don't over think things)......i've seen Trac do those silly in house celebrations with a few players so i don't i ever seen him on outer with celebrating before.

 

[Grimesy87]

Dusty has had 30 and 3 twice in his career. Once in 2011 and once in 2015.

Haha, you get my drift.

Petracca occasionally has 2-3 goal games, but doesn't get enough of the ball, partially due to playing predominately. Conversely, when he pushes up the ground getting more ball, we lose his ability to snag those opportunistic goals he kicks, akin to the 2 smart goals he kicked off packs on Sunday.

My point is, most Melbourne fans in particular thought we had this second coming of danger or dusty, but maybe it's time to shelve those expectations and focus on what he can do.

 

[Grimesy87]

Confidence is a transient thing, come see come sa. I think you mean 'self-belief' to belong at the level. He did that a year or more ago.
I think he hasn't been happy at Melbourne, and I've been watching his behaviour's closely, when around the players during celebrations, etc. He is reserved often, when celebrating.

IMO Tracca is a lazy type, like many of my euro mates. They do not actually like pulling the finger out. They all need a rocket under them to get them to be ready for any work.

Tracca strikes me in this vain. So in this mind, I think he is best served by not giving him too much of a big head, or he will lay back again, like he does when kicking.

My mates swing between believing in themselves, and feeling insecure. This happens to spoilt kids with their mum's doing everything for them.
They struggle amongst other men, hoping for some lavish praise from others, so they can feel good about themselves. Then they sit back down again, having been given what they required.

The hunger for effort and hard work isn't strong in this type of person.
Just my take and observations, take with a pinch of salt.

He has a lot of talents, but not so good on work-rate and efforts.

These are tease type players. Not so dissimilar to watts, in mindset.

There is absolutely nothing in this post I agree with. He looks unhappy if for any reason because Melbourne are 16th on the ladder. After the game he couldn't get around the boys to celebrate fast enough. For a bloke thst doesn't have a big tank, he only came off once in the last quarter to get his head cleaned up when the Carlton player run into him.

His efforts inside 50 remain vitally important as we have no real dangerous small forward. He still leads the league in inside 50 groundball gets (probably helped by the ugly midfield supply) and without those pack busting moments where he picks the ball up and pushes through opponents, opposition defenses would walk the ball out even more simply.

As I said in my initial post, he is doing a lot of this hard work, and team stuff very well. It's the fact he still chooses the short kick, or looks to give off a pass after taking a mark 40 out in front, that's the stuff simple observers remember, whilst forgetting the hard work done prior. The same case can be made for a player like weideman who does a lot right, but then drops a mark or misses a soda from 20 out.

Christian Petracca and Jordan De Goey AFL Stats Comparison

Christian Petracca and Jordan De Goey AFL Stats Comparison.

www.footywire.com

Here is a comparison with De goey over the season. Same draft, although De goey had played a game less.

The 2 biggest differences here are goals (17 vs 30) and time on ground (88% vs 81%). Interesting side note is free kicks for, 9 vs 17.

The ideology that petracca doesn't work hard enough and is lazy, in my opinion is factually incorrect. Could he get more possessions, to more contests? Perhaps, but he may also be playing more to coaching and staying in more dangerous positions. But to say he isn't working hard enough is unfair and unwarranted.

 

[Proper Gander]

There is absolutely nothing in this post I agree with. He looks unhappy if for any reason because Melbourne are 16th on the ladder. After the game he couldn't get around the boys to celebrate fast enough. For a bloke thst doesn't have a big tank, he only came off once in the last quarter to get his head cleaned up when the Carlton player run into him.

His efforts inside 50 remain vitally important as we have no real dangerous small forward. He still leads the league in inside 50 groundball gets (probably helped by the ugly midfield supply) and without those pack busting moments where he picks the ball up and pushes through opponents, opposition defenses would walk the ball out even more simply.

As I said in my initial post, he is doing a lot of this hard work, and team stuff very well. It's the fact he still chooses the short kick, or looks to give off a pass after taking a mark 40 out in front, that's the stuff simple observers remember, whilst forgetting the hard work done prior. The same case can be made for a player like weideman who does a lot right, but then drops a mark or misses a soda from 20 out.

Christian Petracca and Jordan De Goey AFL Stats Comparison

Christian Petracca and Jordan De Goey AFL Stats Comparison.

www.footywire.com

Here is a comparison with De goey over the season. Same draft, although De goey had played a game less.

The 2 biggest differences here are goals (17 vs 30) and time on ground (88% vs 81%). Interesting side note is free kicks for, 9 vs 17.

The ideology that petracca doesn't work hard enough and is lazy, in my opinion is factually incorrect. Could he get more possessions, to more contests? Perhaps, but he may also be playing more to coaching and staying in more dangerous positions. But to say he isn't working hard enough is unfair and unwarranted.

I feel as though Melbourne players should be thanking Jayden Hunt for their healthy groundball statistics

 

[Johno9911]

Hi there Dee's fans and please pardon my intrusion, but I did have a quick question and was hoping someone might be able to help me out.

A close friend and colleague of mine is sadly moving back home to Ireland, however during his time here he has quickly built a very strong love for the Melbourne Demons and in particularly his favorite player Christian Petracca. My question is, me and another colleague are hoping to get Christian to sign something for him as a farewell present, and was wondering what would be the best opportunity to do so? I.e Open Training sessions and when they're on?

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[ponsdale]

Hi there Dee's fans and please pardon my intrusion, but I did have a quick question and was hoping someone might be able to help me out.

A close friend and colleague of mine is sadly moving back home to Ireland, however during his time here he has quickly built a very strong love for the Melbourne Demons and in particularly his favorite player Christian Petracca. My question is, me and another colleague are hoping to get Christian to sign something for him as a farewell present, and was wondering what would be the best opportunity to do so? I.e Open Training sessions and when they're on?

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Training Times - melbournefc.com.au

Find out where and when Melbourne's AFL and AFLW sides are training

www.melbournefc.com.au

The club is advertising that Thursday this week (11th July) is at 10am in Gosch's Paddock. I've heard that the players are generally pretty good with access at these sessions - I haven't been myself.

 

[Johno9911]

Training Times - melbournefc.com.au

Find out where and when Melbourne's AFL and AFLW sides are training

www.melbournefc.com.au

The club is advertising that Thursday this week (11th July) is at 10am in Gosch's Paddock. I've heard that the players are generally pretty good with access at these sessions - I haven't been myself.

Hi Ponsdale much appreciated. Thank you

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

Hi Ponsdale much appreciated. Thank you

Petracca is probably the best guy at the club for this stuff - maybe even let the club know in advance by social media or email, I'm sure he'd love it if he somehow found out.

 

[Johno9911]

Petracca is probably the best guy at the club for this stuff - maybe even let the club know in advance by social media or email, I'm sure he'd love it if he somehow found out.

Thanks mate! Appreciated

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

Trac notched up 94% TOG on Saturday. Probably because of injuries but he didn't seem too tired in the fourth, good signs.

Probably should have managed more than two tackles though...

 

[Proper Gander]

Hi there Dee's fans and please pardon my intrusion, but I did have a quick question and was hoping someone might be able to help me out.

A close friend and colleague of mine is sadly moving back home to Ireland, however during his time here he has quickly built a very strong love for the Melbourne Demons and in particularly his favorite player Christian Petracca. My question is, me and another colleague are hoping to get Christian to sign something for him as a farewell present, and was wondering what would be the best opportunity to do so? I.e Open Training sessions and when they're on?

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

“during his time here he has quickly built a strong love for the Melbourne Demons”...

My Lordy - the man could only be Irish.

Good luck with getting something signed. From what I have seen, Petracca is really good with signing things and talking to fans etc, so you should be able to get something for your mate.

 

[Cannon82]

I loved the goal when tucked up on the boundary line against Liam jones and he just took him on.

Just needs to nail the set shots inside 30m and he will be kicking 3-4 goals not 1-2 per game

Pretty crap defending from Jones though. He just kind of assumed Trac was going to handball it backwards so had already half-committed to going that way.

 

[Cannon82]

“during his time here he has quickly built a strong love for the Melbourne Demons”...

My Lordy - the man could only be Irish.

Good luck with getting something signed. From what I have seen, Petracca is really good with signing things and talking to fans etc, so you should be able to get something for your mate.

We provide so many reasons to drink. I reckon we'd be madly popular with the Micks.

 

[Proper Gander]

We provide so many reasons to drink. I reckon we'd be madly popular with the Micks.

We do have an epic, deeply ingrained tragic histories. We also both have managed to find more than our share of spuds.

 

[SugarHealey]

There is absolutely nothing in this post I agree with. He looks unhappy if for any reason because Melbourne are 16th on the ladder.

My opinion is taken from watching him specifically, during goal celebrations for others efforts & goals during the course of this year. He doesn't go near matching the joy of others, in celebrating their goals, or wins. Maybe he's too stuffed to care.

For a bloke thst doesn't have a big tank, he only came off once in the last quarter

His lacking fitness is his fault, and his size as well. He needs to work harder preseason and off season, and during the season, and in games. He has improved over the past month, as is eveident to all. This should not be noticeable from a player, IF they are alwaysbusting their arse

those pack busting moments where he picks the ball up and pushes through opponents

Where, how many, few and far between this, Not counting this past month.

whilst forgetting the hard work done prior. The same case can be made for a player like weideman

Weideman is just a kid in senior terms, just starting his senior career, and hasn't the body yet, nor fitness to compete fully with the big defenders.
As a comparison between both Petracca and Weide. Tracca is 1.5Yrs older, and 50 games more senior to Weide. Much more experienced, and comparatively pound for pound, still has a more robust body than the taller Weide, in comparison to their relative opponents.
Weide = 0.497 Kgs per Cm. Tracca = 0.516Kgs per Cm. Weide needs to get bigger to compete. Tracca needs to reduce weight/mass, to improve his fitness/running ability, and agility.

I think you are generalising there, basing your opinion of Petracca on your friends who may share the same ethnicity, it is clutching at straws. I think Petracca is a bit of a kid at heart,

Well actually, not just my friends, but also my past workmates over the decades, from the building industry. Most, are laconic, and quite lazy and would rather sit and eat, than work or play hard.

Re Tracca, I was being specific to him. From my observations of Tracca over last year and this season. Up until the past month of footy. Where its been noticable, that his efforts have finally risen to a better standard, thus far. A more acceptable level.

I think Tracca has further to go, than Weide does. Before they break out, in AFL terms.

 

[SugarHealey]

Christian Petracca and Jordan De Goey AFL Stats Comparison

Christian Petracca and Jordan De Goey AFL Stats Comparison.

www.footywire.com

Here is a comparison with De goey over the season. Same draft, although De goey had played a game less.

The 2 biggest differences here are goals (17 vs 30) and time on ground (88% vs 81%). Interesting side note is free kicks for, 9 vs 17.

The ideology that petracca doesn't work hard enough and is lazy, in my opinion is factually incorrect. Could he get more possessions, to more contests? Perhaps, but he may also be playing more to coaching

OK. Do us all a favour, and compare these guys stats again. But compare the Stas over the same period, but ending at the Bye Rnd this season, ending after the QB/d game.
And show show their career stats again. I'd like to see those.