AFL 2025: Melbourne star Christian Petracca suffers rib injury at training

Melbourne star Christian Petracca has been dealt a fresh injury blow, just months after returning to fitness following a lengthy lay-off.

Melbourne star Christian Petracca has been dealt a fresh injury blow, just months after returning to fitness following a lengthy lay-off.

Scans on Friday afternoon confirmed that Petracca had suffered a cracked rib during a contest at pre-season training earlier in the day.

The Demons have said that a “timeline for his recovery will be determined in due course”.

The latest injury comes after Petracca missed the second half of last season with serious internal injuries, including suffering four broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and a partially punctured lung.

Christian Petracca has suffered a cracked rib during a contest at pre-season training. Picture: Melbourne FC

The 29-year-old had travelled to Austria for a training camp post-season and was tearing up the track for the Demons’ before Christmas.

“I’ve been blown away by how Christian’s come back from a physical capacity,” Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said in December.

“He’s really connecting with his teammates and driving really high-quality training sessions.”

Petracca earnt All-Australian honours in four consecutive seasons before last year.

Melbourne meets Fremantle in a pre-season clash in Mandurah on March 2.

Originally published as AFL 2025: Melbourne star Christian Petracca suffers rib injury at training