Christian Petracca has lifted the lid on the brutal aftermath to his serious internal injuries suffered in Melbourne’s King’s Birthday loss to Collingwood.
Petracca will miss the rest of the 2024 season after sustaining four broken ribs, a punctured lung and a lacerated spleen from a stray knee to the midriff from Magpies captain Darcy Moore, controversially playing on in the second quarter before being sent to hospital later in the match.
But as he revealed in an interview on Nova FM’s Jase and Lauren, the injuries themselves were only a small part of the star midfielder’s horror week.
“It’s been pretty traumatic – four or five days in ICU and the last couple of days were just in the ward,” Petracca said of his ordeal.
“It’s been pretty full on. I don’t wish this on my worst enemy.”
Petracca was forced into emergency surgery after being hospitalised following the blow, and was unable to be anaesthetised due to declining blood levels.
“I didn’t realise the severity of it [the injury] until 2am in the morning when I was gassed up and they were doing surgery with my eyes open,” he said.
“I just thought it was a couple of cracked ribs, which is serious, but I thought I could go back and play.
“Had I known now the severity of it I obviously wouldn’t have gone back out there… at the time, I thought and we thought it was a cracked rib, a couple cracked ribs.
“I don’t think we all understood the severity of it, to be honest. I think we got an initial scan around eight or nine o’clock at night. The first scan showed two cracked ribs, and then just a little bit of bleeding around the lung.
“I don’t know what happened. I think 15 minutes later one of the doctors was just checking my blood levels and noticed my haemoglobin was dropping severely, and my blood levels were dropping… that’s when they noticed on the next scan I had four cracked ribs, a grade-five spleen [laceration] and a punctured lung, too.
“It went from being a 4/10, to basically a 10/10, equivalent to a car accident. It seemed pretty full on.
“I had to go straight into surgery at 2am; open surgery. I wasn’t under anaesthetic because my blood levels were so low.”
Petracca admitted he will take time to recover mentally from the ordeal as well as physically.
“I watched a bit of footy on the weekend and I had to turn it off because when you see a simple tackle, you put yourself back in the situation you were in,” he said.
“No doubt with the recovery process and everything I’ll be able to tick off and my mindset, I’ll be able to get back to the player I was. But at the moment, there’s a lot of self doubt. Which is fine, it’s a natural feeling, of course.”
Christian Petracca suffered broken ribs and a series of internal injuries in Melbourne’s King’s Birthday loss to Collingwood. (Photo by Jonathan DiMaggio/Getty Images)
Cornes claims Daicos ‘umpired differently’ amid outrage over Pies’ win
Former great Kane Cornes has accused Nick Daicos of receiving preferential treatment from umpires, as the footy world unites against a series of decisions that cruelled North Melbourne in their loss to Collingwood.
The Kangaroos led by 54 points before collapsing in the second half, with the Magpies mounting a famous comeback to pinch victory by a solitary point.
However, Roos fans have hit out at several calls that benefitted the Magpies, in particular a missed 50m penalty that would have allowed Bailey Scott a shot at goal from inside 50 in the final minute, as well as an awarded goal to Jack Crisp in the second quarter that replays revealed was touched by Scott get wasn’t overturned via score review.
Speaking on SEN Breakfast, Cornes also took issue with a missed holding the ball call against Daicos in the last quarter that would have given Roo Cameron Zurhaar a shot at goal from inside 50, saying the non-decision was proof umpires have a ‘superstar tax’.
“Nick Daicos is umpired differently… there is undoubtedly a superstar tax when it comes to umpiring,” Cornes said.
“I’ve had this theory for a number of years now, ever since I was playing, because the best players in the game are umpired differently.
“This isn’t a knock on Nick – it’s a knock on how he’s adjudicated. He gets more favourable treatment from the umpires… if there is a 50/50 call, more often than not he gets the benefit of that call.
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“The one late yesterday is clearly holding the ball inside forward 50. If that is any other player, who is not a superstar, that free kick is paid against him.”
Cornes isn’t the only former great to dispute the umpiring at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, with the great Leigh Matthews describing the missed 50m penalty as a ‘clanger’ on Channel 9’s Footy Furnace.
“The two Collingwood players ran over the mark and played on so he really had no choice,” Matthews said.
“That should have been a 50-metre penalty.
“Most umpiring calls are judgment calls. Every now and again, rarely, they make a clanger. That one is a clanger.”
Former Geelong great Jimmy Bartel agreed, saying the non-decision was ‘as basic as it gets’.