Demons respond after Christian Petracca cops criticism over on-field act

Yahoo

2 days ago

The Melbourne Demons have moved shut down speculation their is frustration at the club after speculation mounts following Christian Petracca and Jake Melksham's reaction to their loss to the Western Bulldogs. Melbourne have gone through a turbulent few weeks after coach Simon Goodwin was sacked with three games left in the season.
In their first game under interim coach Troy Chaplin, the Demons went down in a close six-point loss to the Bulldogs. And AFL great Luke Hodge took exception to a couple of moments from Melksham and Petracca for their outbursts towards youngster Harvey Langford his decision making during the game.
Petracca became frustrated when he didn't receive a pass from Langford and then didn't react when his long option led to a goal. Hodge pinpointed Petracca's body language and claimed he needed to fix it moving forward.
'This next one is damning ... You've got Christian Petracca here letting him (Langford) know ... he's put the arms up, he hasn't followed in. But the worst part is what comes after,' Hodge said on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters. 'That results in a goal. Yes, he is bypassed, lets him know, lets everyone know. But where's the reaction? Do you go to the young kid and say, 'hey, good kick to the top of the goal square?'
'Do you go down to Kozzy Pickett, pat him on the back? Or do you walk around? And he's not going to anyone. He hasn't clapped, hasn't looked across at Langford, who didn't pass it to him, didn't say anything. (He just) turned around.
'That's a person who's worried about his own stats. So if you're looking as a coach coming into this Melbourne football club, the first thing I'll be doing is getting to the leaders and say play like leaders, react like leaders, and support your younger teammates.'
However, Demons vice-captain Jack Viney has moved to shut down suggestions the players are at odds. Viney said the team are passionate about winning and some emotions are bound to get out of control on the field. "Obviously, got some pretty competitive and passionate individuals that at times, can blow over," Viney said.
"But we've addressed it internally, and something that we've spoken about throughout the season, because we believe it impacts the next play. It kind of, for that split second, takes us away from playing the game. So it's something that we've addressed, but just being passionate and competitive humans at times, it's gonna flare up again."
Jack Viney defends Melbourne teammates
Viney did admit he doesn't want to see the frustration become a common occurrence on the field, which can impact their form. "It's kind of a natural reaction in times of frustration, but it's something that we don't want to see too much," Viney said.
"We do think that we can move on from mistakes. And football is by no means a perfect sport, so there's going to be plenty of mistakes out on the footy field. The quicker we can move on and stay involved in the play, the better, more consistent we'll be as a team. So it's something we've addressed, but ... we know it's going to flare up from time to time."
Former Collingwood boss Nathan Buckley has been linked to the new coaching role at Melbourne for 2026, but Viney wouldn't weigh into the speculation. The Demons close their season against Hawthorn and Collingwood.