Melbourne president Kate Roffey hits back, denying standoff with Christian Petracca

Melbourne president Kate Roffey has spoken publicly for the first time since it was revealed superstar Christian Petracca is pushing to leave the club amid growing off-field unrest.

PERTH. 25/09/2021. AFL Grand Final. Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium, Perth. . An emotional Simon Goodwin, senior coach of the Demons hugs president Kate Roffey after game. Photo by Michael Klein

Melbourne president Kate Roffey has rejected calls for an independent review at the club as she says the Demons’ relationship with Christian Petracca is “absolutely” salvageable.

Roffey said she had not spoken “directly” to Petracca over his future since it emerged he was unhappy at the club but was confident the Demons could “find a resolution” with the disgruntled superstar.

The fourth-year Melbourne president told SEN that the club accepted it “had some issues” but did not need an external review after a turbulent two years overshadowed by a long-running legal dispute with former president Glen Bartlett relating to his sudden exit in April 2021.

“We’ve got some issues, absolutely. I’m heartbroken for our supporters because they don’t get to see our day-to-day operations at the club,” Roffey said.

Kate Roffey with Melbourne CEO Gary Pert. Picture: Michael Klein

“Is there ever a club not in some kind of flux state? Like always, we’ll deal with it and get through it.”

Roffey claimed reports stating Petracca wanted out of Melbourne had been overblown by the media but acknowledged that star forward Kysaiah Pickett was homesick.

The president said Petracca, who is contracted for five more years, had raised issues with the club but not directly with her.

“I just want to point out to people … we’re dealing with individuals, and it’s an incredibly difficult time for ‘Trac’. I have been in intensive care myself, it’s horrific, it’s a traumatic experience,” Roffey said.

“I haven’t spoken to him directly about (his intentions) … he’s a contracted player at our club. “These conversations have been had as appropriate with the football department, not me – that’s not my area of expertise.

“What I am saying that Trac is a contracted player … he’s a critical part of our team.”

Roffey was pressed on what the key issues were troubling Petracca, but said she was not aware of them as she expressed doubt it related to his medical care following his horrific injuries in the King’s Birthday game.

“We can work through (his issues) and apologies ... but I don’t believe that relates to medical care,” Roffey said.

“He has not told me that (he wants to leave) directly, no. Again, I don’t personally need to hear it, what I need to hear is, ‘Christian, what are the issues you have with the club and how do we work towards a resolution?’

“The conversation is entirely open with Christian, we’re willing to sit with him every time he wants to.”

Kate Roffey and Dees legend Ron Barassi with the club’s premiership trophy in 2022. Picture: Michael Klein

Roffey said Pickett, who informed the club of his homesickness in his exit interview, had not raised the prospect of a trade.

“(Pickett) is homesick, they all get homesick from time to time. Kozzie is a home person, he’s got a beautiful little baby and his family, there’s some in South Australia, some in WA,” she said.

“He gets homesick but we work through that with Kozzie, it’s not a new thing. That was a conversation about him being homesick, it wasn’t a conversation about him asking for a trade or leaving the football club.

“Harry Petty, he was homesick, he thought about going back home, he signed up with the club. We can work through those things. It’s about how we help Kozzie be connected with his family when he needs to be conncected with them. (A trade) is not even a consideration from his management.”

Roffey said ongoing accusations levelled at the club and lawsuits intiated by Bartlett were shielding a “deeper story”.

“No, I think that there’s a much deeper story there, there’s always two sides to a story and we’ve just dealt with it as we’ve had to when it’s unfortunately come up through legal cases ... we get on with the business,” she said.

The president said there was no need for an external, independent review of the club amid Bartlett’s accusations, Clayton Oliver’s disruptive personal troubles and concerns of a drug culture following Joel Smith’s suspension late last year.

“No, I don’t think so. We’re always looking at reviewing, we’ve been constantly working on all sorts of things throughout the year. That’s never a stagnant process.”

HOMESICK PICKETT WEIGHS UP DEMONS FUTURE

— Glenn McFarlane

Melbourne is confident its dynamic small forward Kysaiah Pickett will see out the next three seasons of his contract, despite expressing homesickness at his exit interview with coach Simon Goodwin this week.

In a week in which the tribunal upheld Pickett’s suspension for his bump on Collingwood’s Darcy Moore, meaning he will miss the first three rounds of 2025, the 23-year-old detailed to Goodwin how he and his partner were missing family and friends in South Australia.

He became a father for the first time in April and is believed to have told his coach he was finding it difficult so far away from his family, sparking fears that he could ask for a trade.

The Herald Sun understands Melbourne officials — and his management group — are confident they can provide the support Pickett and his young family require to stay.

The Dees say Pickett won’t be going anywhere. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

It comes as superstar injured midfielder Christian Petracca has expressed a desire to be traded to another Victorian club, despite having five years left on his multimillion-dollar contract.

Premiership player Alex Neal-Bullen is also seeking a trade to South Australia for family reasons, which the club will try to facilitate, nominating Adelaide as his preferred option.

It has been a tumultuous past year for the Demons who fell out of the finals for the first time since 2020 amid question marks on the club’s culture.

Pickett, 23, has previously been linked to Port Adelaide – where his uncle Byron was a premiership player – with the Power trying to entice him out of Melbourne before he ended up signing a deal with the Demons last year that runs through to the end of the 2027 season.

He has family in both South Australia and Western Australia, having been raised in both states, but he came through his footy pathway in Adelaide.

Originally published as Melbourne president Kate Roffey hits back, denying standoff with Christian Petracca