BARRETT: Untimely blow for 'Brand Petracca' as reunion with Dees awaits

A 19-YEAR-OLD teammate told Christian Petracca to "f… off" on the weekend.

It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last, that those two words had found their way to Petracca, but for a man seemingly as obsessed with public image as he is with football, the public nature of the exchange came at just about the worst time.

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Petracca this Sunday is, for the first time, to play against the Melbourne Football Club, the team at which he played 212 matches, won the Norm Smith Medal in the 2021 Grand Final, and secured four All-Australians and two best-and-fairests, and the last thing he would've wanted this week was another jolt to Brand Petracca.

And there he was on Monday, two days after Leo Lombard told him to "f… off" following his berating for taking a ball supposedly meant for him in Gold Coast's loss to Carlton, in public damage control mode.

"I have got nothing but love for Leo," said Brand Petracca as part of a very carefully and very long worded explanation – no, make that defence – of his actions provided to the Herald Sun. "I think for me reflecting on that moment I was probably a bit too passionate with my feedback."

Petracca has added 17 matches to his career tally since becoming a Sun during last year's AFL Trade Period. He and his new team began the year in blistering form. Petracca missed with injury rounds four (v Melbourne) and five (Sydney), which meant that when Gold Coast defeated Port Adelaide in round 10, his personal win-loss tally in 2026 read 7-1 (and the team's was 7-3).

But the Suns will be taking a streak of nine consecutive losses into the round 21 match against Melbourne, which, after trading out Petracca and Clayton Oliver, and replacing Simon Goodwin with Steven King as coach, finds itself in sixth place on the ladder.

Watching Petracca publicly deal with his Lombard exchange this week would not have been lost on anyone at the Demons.

Those at Melbourne who had observed the extraordinary talents and impact of Petracca after they drafted him at No.2 in the 2014 national draft had long come to accept with Petracca that image, endorsements, social media clicks, and brand was as much a part of his life as football.

Those people never begrudged that, but they did come to tire of it, and by the time he was eventually traded out, 12 months after he should have been, he had alienated many.

Petracca's obsession with brand became obvious to all in early March last year, when in the days leading into his football comeback after a horrific injury midway through the 2024 season, he went public with a decision to sack his long-time management firm, Connors Sports, and sign with Anna Scullie, who at the time was not accredited as an AFL player agent but a dynamic talent and partnerships expert.

No one at Melbourne wanted anything but the best for Petracca upon his official exit to Gold Coast last October. But as far back as the first week of 2026 preseason training, many at the club were also privately saying to each other that their workplace had instantly become better for it not having to devote resources to managing aspects of Petracca's involvement.

The Demons have moved on from Petracca, all the way to the edge of securing a finals berth with four home-and-away matches remaining of King's first year as coach.

The Suns, with Petracca the star addition, have embarrassingly slumped from official premiership favouritism in March to 14th place on the ladder.

Melbourne is airborne right now. It has not just seamlessly moved on from Brand Petracca, but it is also going to reap, as per the official transactioning around him during last year's trade period, the Suns' first selection – which currently sits at No.5 – in this year's national draft.

What a rebrand for the Dees.

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