By Marc McGowan
Star Demon Kysaiah Pickett has addressed trade speculation about his future and conceded he was homesick at times – but stopped short of denying he told friends at Fremantle he planned to become a Docker.
Pickett’s comments came as Christian Petracca sat out Melbourne’s match simulation training at Casey Fields on Friday, instead training earlier in the day alongside fellow leader Jack Viney as he recovers from the broken rib he sustained at training last month.
Christian Petracca does a meet and greet with fans at Casey Fields in Cranbourne on Friday.Credit: Joe Armao
Petracca is yet to resume contact training, and the horror incident in last year’s King’s Birthday clash with Collingwood that left him with four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a lacerated spleen is still a vivid memory.
Ex-Crow Shane McAdam is facing more time on the sidelines as well after leaving the field in the first half on Friday with a suspected leg injury, but the Demons have not confirmed his exact issue or the severity.
Pickett, who finished fourth in Melbourne’s best and fairest award last year, has consistently been linked with a move to Fremantle despite being contracted until the end of the 2027 season.
The premiership forward spent time in Western Australia as a child before living with his uncle and ex-AFL player Byron Pickett in Adelaide until the Demons drafted him with the No.12 pick in 2019.
He confirmed he had discussed his homesickness with coach Simon Goodwin, but sidestepped questions around whether he texted his Dockers friends about playing there next year. Pickett said they “text like general friends” and was close with several of them.
“I’ve got friends. I’m allowed to talk to them, I guess. I’m contracted at Melbourne. I’m having fun there, and I love it at the club,” Pickett said in Perth ahead of the Indigenous All-Stars match on Saturday night.
Asked about his interest in returning to WA, the 23-year-old – who has kicked 161 goals from 106 matches – repeated his contract status before reflecting on his homesickness.
“Being away in Melbourne, there’s always a bit of homesickness, but I’m still contracted, and I have to do my time there,” Pickett said.
Melbourne’s Kysaiah Pickett celebrates a goal in a game against Port Adelaide last year.Credit: Getty Images
“We [Pickett and Goodwin] always have open and honest conversations. To be able to express myself and express my homesickness as a part of that relationship means we’re pretty close.”
Speaking after the intraclub game, Demons key forward Jacob van Rooyen said Pickett was popular at the club.
“We all love ‘Kozzy’ so much. He’s a generational player. He’s one of a kind. We all love him at the club, and he’s contracted, so I’m keen to play this year with him – and hopefully for many more,” van Rooyen said.
“[Homesickness is] a part of it. I’m a Perth boy myself, and I think building a strong network here [is important]. Kozzy has a lot of friends and family over here, so I think he’s built a strong network, just like I have [and] Taj [Woewodin] and Judd [McVee] … which makes it a lot easier.”
The Demons have offered no clarity on whether Petracca will be ready for their season-opener against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG on March 16.
Melbourne are not training this weekend, so the earliest Petracca will be involved in contact drills is next week.
The club’s high-performance manager, Selwyn Griffith, did not specify whether Petracca’s broken rib – which occurred from a training bump on January 10 – was related to the gruesome injuries from last year, after which he spent nearly a week in ICU after undergoing emergency surgery.
Leading sports physician Dr Peter Larkins told this masthead that a broken rib remained “vulnerable” for six weeks, adding that it was “highly unlikely” this new injury was not to one of the four ribs he fractured last year.
Petracca speaks to fans.Credit: Joe Armao
“You see people try to play like [fellow Demon] Steven May did at one stage, and you just don’t get away with it because they’re too sore,” Larkins said.
“You’d be pretty unlucky to break a rib in a totally different part of the chest … a bone takes a few months to mature, so while it might be healed at six weeks; it’s still not at its perfect strength in those situations – and ribs are in the same boat.
“There’s a vulnerability where it’s not weaker forever, but it certainly would be for several months.”
Griffith said last month that Petracca had recovered from last year’s injuries before copping a knock to the ribs at training, but the 2021 Norm Smith medallist previously described the ordeal as “probably the most traumatic thing I’ve experienced in my life”.
The psychological challenge of returning to competitive games would likely be greater than the physical recovery, Larkins said.
“It was a massive injury. It’s not the sort of injury you’re going to see every second weekend in footy,” Larkins said.
Jacob van Rooyen.Credit: Getty Images
“We have a few cracked ribs regularly during the season, but you don’t often hear about punctured lungs, and certainly not ruptured spleens. I spoke at the time, and we looked at three or four cases over 15 years, so if you put that combination together, it makes athletes a bit apprehensive psychologically.
“[Petracca] talked about the emotional impact, and I know a few people who know him, and I think it really rattled him.
“It was a pretty significant injury that would have been, in the best of circumstances, a three-to-four months injury for a member of the public … [but] obviously, he was back training and I would have expected, without the setback of the rib, it wouldn’t have impacted him from starting this season.”
Van Rooyen was optimistic Petracca would play in round one, and expected him to be back training with the full squad next week.
Clayton Oliver, who contemplated a move to Geelong at the end of the season, came through Friday’s hit-out unscathed, and van Rooyen said he expected the four-time club champion to be “back to his best” this year after a strong summer.
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