Harry McKay details turmoil of becoming ‘collateral damage’ in Christian Petracca trade saga

Harry McKay has revealed the chaos which unfolded after he was linked with a trade to Melbourne and the silver lining he’s taken from being thrown into the Christian Petracca saga.

MELBOURNE, JULY 13, 2024: 2024 AFL Round 18 - Western Bulldogs v Carlton at Marvel Stadium. Harry McKay of the Blues celebrates a goal. Picture: Mark Stewart

Carlton spearhead Harry McKay has revealed the turmoil of becoming “collateral damage” in speculation about Christian Petracca’s future.

McKay was linked with the Demons in a straight swap for Petracca, who has recently committed to fulfilling his contract at Melbourne for 2025.

McKay said the first 48 hours after reports surfaced linking him with a blockbuster trade were chaotic.

“I remember the next day, I was leaving the club and there was a young family – a mum and three daughters – were there and had their Carlton jumpers on,” McKay said.

“(They were) asking for a photo and an autograph. The young girl would have been six or seven, but when I was signing she was like, ‘are you getting swapped to Melbourne? Please don’t say you’re getting swapped to Melbourne’.”

Harry McKay was linked with a trade for Christian Petracca.

Petracca has since confirmed he’ll be staying at Melbourne in 2025. Picture: Michael Klein

McKay said his phone “went ham” with messages from family, friends and teammates who were “checking in” after initial reports surfaced.

“I’m not sure people fully understand – they might think it’s just part of the job and that’s what you put up with as a player,’ he said. “There’s definitely an element of that.

“When you have been around for a while like us, you’ve seen it all, a little bit. It’s funny, the amount of calls, messages and family members checking in.”

The Blues and McKay were quick to shutdown the links to Melbourne, while Petracca said earlier this week he remains committed to the Demons and he makes “no apologies for wanting to better our club”. He was reportedly disillusioned with Melbourne’s direction and held concerns about the club’s culture.

McKay said being dragged into the saga had been difficult.

“I think sometimes we need to have more awareness around throwing a name (around) hypothetically up and not understanding the collateral damage that has sometimes,” McKay said on the Ben and Harry podcast.

McKay said the silver lining of the trade saga had been the support he received from teammates and key people at Carlton.

“Everyone at the club was awesome,” McKay said.

“I reckon it was a really good sign of a really good culture from the club when key stakeholders, people are ringing me straight away, nearly having a laugh about it, saying like, ‘there’s no merit to anything. Mate, you’re super valued’. And it was nearly just we were having a bit of a laugh about it. It was really good from that point of view and I think the club was great.”

McKay is racing the clock to prove his fitness to return from a quad injury for Carlton’s elimination final against Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.