Someone with a good sense of humour at Melbourne added Queen’s classic I Want To Break Free to the playlist that blasted over Casey Fields as players warmed up at training on Tuesday morning.

The Freddie Mercury track could have been Melbourne’s alternative theme song in their darkest days late last season, when everyone, not least star midfielder Christian Petracca, seemed to want out.

Christian Petracca had a tumultuous 2024 but recommitted to the Demons for this season.Credit: Getty Images

Ahead of round six this year, with no wins from their five games, things looked like they had gone from bad to worse. Petracca, around whom so much of the Demons’ drama revolved in 2024, appeared close to tears after their loss to Geelong in round four. As the pressure on the Demons ramped up, the love and connection that was being trumpeted by the club was nowhere to be seen on the field.

But a win over Fremantle in round six took the heat off. And those within are now excited about what lies ahead; they view last year’s tumult as instigating conversations that were needed then, and will remain alive going forward.

In the win over Fremantle, the Norm Smith medallist looked on the verge of one of his trademark performances, which have earned him three Brownlow votes as best on ground in 26 of his 104 matches (or 25 per cent of the time) since 2020.

“He’s been really impressive, ‘Trac’. We’ve sort of asked for a little bit of different things from him at times in the first five weeks, playing a little bit more forward to help our forward line. He’s certainly working his way right back towards his best footy,” coach Simon Goodwin said.

“His game’s in a great spot and I think he’s only going to get better as the year goes on.”

Petracca was approached for an interview but was unavailable to speak to this masthead this week. His media appearances have been sparing so far in 2025; he spoke to reporters post-game after round one, before bunkering down to let his football do the talking.

At the end of last season, Alex Neal-Bullen left with the........

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