Christian Petracca all smiles and committed to Melbourne after much-needed Europe trip

Melbourne star Christian Petracca has opened up for the first time about his issues with the club and revealed how his body is faring after he suffered a serious injury.

Christian Petracca says he’s in a “really good space” and fully committed to Melbourne after returning from a much-needed training stint in Austria.

The midfield star, who hasn’t played since June after suffering serious injury, confirmed he’s staying at the club after an off-season of discontent where he was reported to be wanting a trade due to cultural issues.

Petracca was forced to undergo critical surgery after being diagnosed with a grade 5 lacerated spleen, four broken ribs and a punctured lung following a collision against Collingwood.

Christian Petracca of the Demons in pain after copping a knee in the ribs. Picture: Michael Klein

“It was awesome, I really needed it, with my injury I had a compromised year so to get over there and train was just amazing,’’ he said.

“I’m in a really good head space with everything and just excited for the first day of pre-season.

“Disappointing is a strong word, I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed (with the speculation), that’s the media’s job is to report on issues. For me all I’m trying to focus on right now is my rehab and my injury and just being ready for day one of pre-season. I love my job, I’m passionate about footy and that’s all I’m really focused on right now.

Christian Petracca and his fiancee Bella Beischer in Austria. Picture: Instagram

“Of course (I’m committed). I feel confident, we’ve still got a bit to go with my rehab but I feel fine.

“For me culture is an interesting word. It’s a high-performance industry and for me we’re always trying to improve and get better and for me getting good people through the door is the right thing and we’ve had healthy conversations and that’s awesome. Like any industry and any club we’re looking to improve.”

Petracca will be at Penfolds Victoria Derby Day on Saturday with his fiancee Bella Beischer.

He was at the marquee’s reveal at Flemington on Thursday after returning from a holiday in Rome and Morocco.

Petracca attends the unveiling of the Penfolds Birdcage Marquee at the 2024 Melbourne Cup Carnival at Flemington Racecourse. Picture: Getty Images

“My body is feeling great, I’m in a really good spot, did some testing around my ribs and my abs and everything is really good,’’ he said.

“I started a little bit (of physical contact) yesterday so not too sure when I’ll hit the ground running but the good thing about pre-season is there’s five months of it. You don’t want to be peaking in November, I want to be peaking by round 1 next year.

“It feels great, I love my teammates, I love the boys, over off-season is hard to kind of connect with everyone because everyone switches off and refreshes, but come day one of pre-season I’m really looking forward to seeing them.”

Originally published as Christian Petracca all smiles and committed to Melbourne after much-needed Europe trip