Christian Petracca has spoken out in support for his former Melbourne teammate Joel Smith, who was banned from the AFL for doping.
Smith was handed a four-year suspension after returning a positive matchday test for cocaine and its metabolite following a game against Hawthorn at the MCG in August 2023.
Despite making his concerns known about Melbourne's culture earlier this year, Petracca had a heartfelt message of support for Smith.
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"My heart goes out to him (Smith) - obviously it's really disappointing but I wish him and his family nothing but the best," Petracca said during the Spring Racing Carnival.
Petracca also broke his silence on the issue of Melbourne's off-field culture after wanting out of the club in August.
The star midfielder has since released a statement committing to the Demons but remained coy on whether the situation was fixed.
“For me, culture is an interesting word, it’s a high performance industry and for me we’re always trying to improve and get better,” he said.
“And I think for me, getting good people through the door is the right thing and we’ve had healthy conversations and like any industry we’re looking to improve.”