The area of Petracca’s game that could hold him back from being regarded as truly elite

Kane Cornes has questioned Christian Petracca’s ball use which he believes will hold him back from being regarded as one of the game’s truly elite players.

The Melbourne star had 24 disposals, eight inside 50s, six clearances and kicked a lovely goal in Friday night’s devastating two-point Semi Final loss to Carlton.

They are numbers that look very good on paper, but Cornes does have an issue with the fact Petracca went at 58 per cent disposal efficiency and 41 per cent kicking efficiency.

He wonders if the 2021 Norm Smith Medallist, who was a little bit wasteful with his kicking forward of centre, is letting his overall reputation down with some sloppy ball use at times.

“I’d like to speak about Christian Petracca and if can we recognise him as one of the games absolute elites if he continues to butcher the ball as much as he has in the last two seasons,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

Co-host Nathan Buckley quickly leapt to Petracca’s defence: “Did you see the goal he kicked?”

Cornes replied: “I did, I did see the goal, but I also saw the three that he missed.”

Before using GWS captain Toby Greene as a reference point for a player like Petracca.

“At times, his ball use is really poor. I look and I compare him to Toby Greene as those two would be held in a similar regard,” he continued.

“I understand they don’t play exactly the same role but they have the influence to be high score involvement players and to finish their work.

“Petracca has kicked 47.65 in his last two seasons. Toby Greene has kicked 101.54.

“I looked at Petracca’s ball use on Friday night. He had the opportunity three times to finish for his team and he didn’t even really score. The amount of times he sprays it, he kicked it at 41 per cent on the night.

“Then I look at what at Toby Greene does every week and what he did in making the most of his limited opportunities that you get in that role. He nails it more often than not. Not only does he nail the finish, (but also) his ability to set up his teammates and make the right decision in that moment.

“Can we hold Christian Petracca in that esteem if he continues to be as wasteful as what he has been in the last two seasons? Or is that harsh?”

Buckley does tend to agree after Petracca wasted some opportunities in the cut-throat dying stages of their defeat to the Blues.

“No, I don’t think it harsh because if we’re talking about inches making the difference in performance, then your bets players, or any player, taking advantage of those moments is crucial,” said Buckley.

“There’s no doubt that Petracca had the opportunity, as others did, to finish the game off.”

Cornes added: “It’s not a once-off for him though.”

Buckley continued: “That’s fair.

“There was an entry that Petracca had when Melbourne were moving the ball through the middle of the ground, he was actually going into a plus-1 forward line.

“He had a player that was out 25 metres if he had scanned. It was a certain Melbourne goal and he missed that kick. It went straight to a Carlton player who marked it.

“You’ve got to take those chances in games and that is the difference between it being an elite team or an elite performer and not quite.”

Over the course of the 2023 season, Petracca went at 66.8 per cent disposal efficiency and 55 per cent kicking efficiency.

The 27-year-old did, however, average 27.8 disposals, six clearances and almost six inside 50s while kicking 28 goals (34 behinds) and providing 26 goal assists which led to a fourth successive All-Australian selection.