“It's not a stand-off”: Melbourne president Kate Roffey responds to Petracca’s reported unhappiness

Melbourne president Kate Roffey has responded to suggestions that Christian Petracca is unhappy at the club and wants out.

There has been constant talk this week that the superstar is attempting to “plot a path out of the Demons” due to the fact there is discontent.

Petracca’s reported desire to leave the club has set the footy world alight ahead of the trade period, prompting SEN’s Gerard Whateley to ask all the big questions of Roffey.

He commenced with: “Has the Petracca family been unhappy?”, referencing the fallout of Christian’s nasty season-ending spleen injury.

“I haven’t spoken directly to ‘Trac’s’ family for a while, so I won't comment on that because I don't have any direct insight into it,” was Roffey’s reply.

“I haven’t seen them for a while. Trac hasn't been playing, they're usually at games when we see them, so I can't comment more specifically on that.”

Whateley followed up with: “So, this is a proper stand-off now.

“Are you troubled by it? Are you troubled by Melbourne's stand-off with Christian Petracca?”

Roffey replied, indicating that the Petracca chatter has been fuelled by the media, but admitting that he has “raised some issues”.

“I don't think this is a stand-off, that's a media portrayal of it,” she responded.

“We love Trac and we have been working with him. He's raised some issues at the club and some of them are very good issues.

“We have taken them on board and we've discussed them and spoken with them about what's going on. We're not in a position where we're having a stand-off with Trac.

“The first thing I just want to point out to people, and I think this sort of gets lost in the media world, because we're dealing with the people, the individuals and when you're looking at it in the media you're not actually seeing the person.

“It's an incredibly difficult time for Trac. Full stop. Incredibly difficult time. What he's been through is significantly traumatic and now what's playing out in the media is very difficult for him as well.

“So we've got our arms around him. We're not sitting there not talking to him and we're not sitting there not helping him find a way through this. We're sitting there working with him to find a way through this.

“So it's not a stand-off, certainly not from our point of view. He's a player at our club that we love. He's pivotal in that and we're going to have him here and we're going to keep working with him to make sure we get the best Trac out on the field that we can.”

Whateley asked: “But does he have a preference to be elsewhere?”

Roffey said she has not spoken directly to Petracca about a possible move amid the reported issues that he is experiencing at Melbourne

“I haven't spoken directly to him about that,” Roffey said further.

“So again, I'm not going to comment on the media issues. He's a contracted player at our club.

“As I said, we'd love him and we're working through it with him, with the player leadership group, with the coaches and we will find a resolution to this.”

Whateley asked further: “It feels like you're deflecting this as a media construct rather than a reflection of truth.

“The issues between Melbourne and Christian aren't a media invention.”

She answered: “And nobody's saying that.”

“When I have to right level of information and something to say I'm always happy to come and speak on radio, on television, and talk to the media.

“No one's saying this is a media invention or anything, but what I'm saying is the bits in the media are not the whole story. It never is.

“And we're actually trying to get to the bottom of the issues here and actually work through them and resolve them with Christian.”

The topic of Kysaiah Pickett’s apparent desire to also leave Melbourne and return to Western Australia or South Australia, where he has family links, was also visited.

“He’s homesick. They all get homesick from time to time because he's a home person,” said Roffey.

“He’s got a new, beautiful, little baby and his family, some in South Australia, some in WA, and yes, he gets homesick.

“But we work through that with Kozzy, that'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.”

Whateley asked further: “So you consider that there’s no risk that this will grow into Kozzy asking to be traded away?”

Roffey replied: “No, so I’ve been told.

“No, that’s not even a consideration from his management.”

Listen to the full chat below: