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Christian Petracca wasn't quite able to push his Melbourne Demons side to victory against the Carlton Blues, but his five-goal performance was enough for the Sunday Footy Show to nominate him for the best performance of the year. The Demons star had 21 disposals, two goal assists, 10 score involvements, seven tackles and four clearances.
Playing against the odds, he further booked six inside 50s and 574 metres gained after being thrown forward to get Melbourne back into the game.
The Norm Smith Medalist has been in indifferent form this season, with no more than one goal in his previous eight games and never topping 30 touches. However, when the Blues got out to a six-goal lead in the second quarter, Petracca answered with two goals in the second. He booked two more in the third and then a fifth to bring the Demons back within seven points with five minutes to play.
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Should Petracca go on to win the Lou Richards Medal, voted on by the Sunday Footy Show panel, he will win a car from their sponsor, a Lexus RX 350h Luxury.
Despite Melbourne losing the game, Petracca also polled a perfect 10 votes from coaches Michael Voss and Simon Goodwin. However, Sydney Swan Isaac Heeney leads all competition for best player of 2024 and in most cases, it isn't even close.
Melbourne Demons winless in finals since 2021
The Melbourne Demons are running fourth on a compacted ladder with a game against the West Coast Eagles they are expected to win coming off a 10-day break. While nothing can be taken for granted in this year's close competition, the Demons are on track for finals and have the schedule to make a top-four finish.
Unfortunately, since their barnstorming Grand Final win in Perth against the Western Bulldogs at the end of the COVID-19-affected season in 2021, Melbourne has zero wins and four straight losses in finals.
The Melbourne Demons will need Christian Petracca at his very best to overcome the daunting challenges ahead.
