Simon Goodwin remains optimistic Christian Petracca’s future is at Melbourne after his emotional meeting with teammates

The off-season is officially here for Melbourne – and it’s going to be a big one. How’s Christian Petracca really doing? What about Clayton Oliver? Get the latest after Friday night’s loss.

Simon Goodwin remains optimistic that Christian Petracca will be a Demon in season 2025 and beyond, but the Norm Smith Medallist is still yet to provide the Melbourne coach with an iron-clad commitment to the club.

Petracca sparked trade whispers when he recently expressed his frustration at Melbourne’s direction after a difficult recovery from his sickening King’s Birthday injury – a battle the superstar midfielder opened up about to his teammates during the week.

But Goodwin was, again, steadfast on Petracca’s future, following Friday night’s loss to Collingwood.

“Yeah, I am. Yeah, absolutely,” Goodwin said when asked if he was confident Petracca would be at the club next year.

“Christian will be a part of this footy club for the next five years. He’s had a really challenging time, we all know that, he’s having to work through a lot of emotions and suffered a lot of trauma, but we’ll be there to support him and he’ll be in the red and blue for the next five years.”

When asked, however, if Petracca has actually come to Goodwin to tell him that he wants to see out his contract, the Demons coach hardly gave a convincing response.

“He’s got a five-year contract, so he’ll be seeing it out,” Goodwin said.

“We’ll catch up in the next few days and have those discussions but where we sit today, he will be at the Melbourne footy club for the next five years. They’re the facts and that’s what’ll happen.

“That’s the space that we’ll live in.”

Simon Goodwin says Christian Petracca will be a the club in 2025. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Petracca in his recovery from the King’s Birthday injury.

Teammate Steven May says Petracca’s mental health challenges were laid bare in an emotional meeting at the club during the week.

The Herald Sun reported details of that meeting on Monday but May said what took place increased his teammate’s understanding of his plight after suffering a lacerated spleen and four broken ribs in a clash with Collingwood’s Darcy Moore in round 13.

May stepped in for Petracca at late notice in a pre-game interview on Channel 7 on Friday night, detailing how the players listened intently to Petracca’s frustrations with his situation and the club.

“I’m good mates with ‘Trac’ and it’s upsetting to see what he is going through with the injury and then the mental health … it has obviously taken a toll on him,” May told Channel 7.

“He was pretty emotional.

“He hadn’t missed a game (before the injury) for that long. You take that away from someone and it can really take a bit of a toll. He needed some time away and he pretty much opened up to us about how he was feeling and how he has been struggling.

“Mental health looks different for everyone. There is no one size fits all. Some (injured) people might be better to be around the club in a coaching aspect; some need to get away.”

Goodwin is also optimistic on Clayton Oliver’s future at Melbourne. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Fellow champion Clayton Oliver has also had a year he would rather forget, but like Petracca, he is just at the start of a massive contract and Goodwin was optimistic that the midfield bull would get back to his best next year.

“He’ll be back. I’ve never seen a more determined person than ‘Clarry’ right now,” Goodwin said.

“He’s keen on getting his off-season absolutely spot on, come back ready to go, fit and healthy. He’s in a great space with his life and we’re really proud of that, but now it’s about becoming a great footballer again.

“Clarry’s one of the biggest competitors I’ve met so (I’m not sure) whether he’s got a point to prove to anyone else, but I’m pretty sure he’s got a point to prove to himself so that’s more important.”

After a “tough 12 months” with “a lot that’s gone on”, Goodwin said the main aim for the club in the off-season was to get everyone on the same page heading into 2025.

“We’ll go through all our reviews as normal ,” he said.

“We’ll gather as much information from our players, from our staff, from everyone. The leaders of the footy club want to know. We want to get to a position where we can build a plan moving forward – one that’s fully connected, aligned, clear on their plan moving forward so when we hit day one of pre-season, we’re ready to go.”

Originally published as Simon Goodwin remains optimistic Christian Petracca’s future is at Melbourne after his emotional meeting with teammates