Christian Petracca's fiancee caught up in storm as Collingwood trade development emerges

Leading AFL journalist Caroline Wilson has blasted the Melbourne Demons for a "staggering" communication breakdown that saw players not informed as to why Christian Petracca was in Noosa with his fiancee. Petracca has become disgruntled with the club and reports have emerged that he'd prefer to play at another AFL club next year if a trade was possible.

It seems highly unlikely that Petracca will be leaving the Demons, but the source of the 28-year-old's frustrations was revealed this week. According to Tom Morris of Channel 9, Petracca is fuming at being painted as "selfish" because his teammates weren't told how much he was struggling in the wake of his season-ending injuries and needed to get away for a break.

Petracca went to Noosa for about a month with fiancee Bella, choosing to step away from Melbourne and not be present at the club because he was struggling mentally. The midfielder suffered broken ribs, a punctured lung and lacerated spleen earlier this year and won't be able to play again this year.

"Players were frustrated with him because he went to Noosa for a couple of weeks when he got injured instead of being around the club," Morris revealed on Sunday night. "But they didn’t know the reasons why he left. They didn’t understand the full reasons why he went to Noosa, why he was posting on TikTok and when it was explained to the players they understood it.

“So part of Petracca’s issue with the club is the communication, because he was made to seem like he was being selfish in being away from the club. But in fact he was doing what the club had given him permission to do given the difficulties of the situation that he was in. It’s a very nuanced situation and one that we’ve got to watch pretty closely.”

Christian Petracca forced to explain situation to teammates

Petracca addressed his teammates on Monday and attempted to calm the waters. But Wilson has expressed her disbelief that Demons players weren't in the loop about how much Petracca was struggling and needed to get away.

"I'm staggering that players didn't know why Petracca had gone up to Noose for a month," Wilson said on Channel 9 on Monday night. "He was suffering some form of stress or trauma after what had happened to him, which is completely understandable. I find the communication breakdown at the Melbourne Football Club extraordinary."

Collingwood revealed of Christian Petracca's top trade target

Meanwhile, the Herald Sun has revealed Petracca's preferred destination would be Collingwood if he could get a trade, however it's highly unlikely to happen. Jay Clark wrote on Monday night that "a deal looks enormously difficult to pull off", but Collingwood would be top of Petracca's wish-list.

But "without a first-round pick, Collingwood would have to consider offloading a star player to have any hope of completing what would be arguably the biggest trade deal since Geelong handed over three early picks for ex-Giant Jeremy Cameron in 2020," Clark revealed. "Petracca would have to forcibly demand a trade to have any hope of making his way to a new club after nine years, one premiership, two best and fairests and four All-Australian jackets at Melbourne."

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Discussing the situation on Monday, Demons captain Max Gawn said: "I’m in open dialogue with Trac, I don’t see the build-up that has happened. He went away for nine, 10 weeks - four of them to Noosa.

"I’m happy he went away and any player that is struggling with anything that’s going on, it doesn’t have to be two weeks in the ICU that Trac had, it could be a rolled ankle. Anyone that is struggling, more than happy to grant leave."