Melbourne senior coach Simon Goodwin has confirmed that Christian Petracca will play his side's semi-final against Brisbane.
Petracca has been nursing a duo of leg injuries suffered in Melbourne's qualifying final loss to Sydney, including a hairline fracture in his right leg and a corked calf, neither of which will keep him out of the team this Friday.
"He's 100 per cent playing," Goodwin told reporters on Thursday.
"He trained really well in our main training session and he'll train again today but we're really confident in terms of how he is.
"He's moving incredibly well and we've been really surprised with his progression throughout the week, and he's the type of competitor you want."
Goodwin said the club was well prepared to manage Petracca's injury niggles by playing him in a variety of roles around the ground, while he dismissed any claim the Demons could receive special permission for pain medication to be used during the game.
"This is a great opportunity to put himself on a show with a little bit of adversity during the week," Goodwin said.
"He's not the only player in the year so far that's had a corkie and had to come up and play so he'll be right to go.
"He won’t need any pain management. He certainly won’t need a panadol.
"He'll be in the midfield, he'll play forward, he'll play a variety of different roles that sit within our game methods," Goodwin said.
The club has remained optimistic all week that Petracca would play despite a noticeable physical hindrance against the Swans last weekend.
Goodwin fended off speculation he could do more damage by playing this weekend, telling AFL 360 that the club's "medical team are one of the best in the competition" who won't make "rash decisions" on key players like Petracca.
Simon Goodwin is confident Christian Petracca will be good to go for Friday night.
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— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) September 5, 2022
The 2021 Norm Smith medalist was a part of Melbourne's captain's run on Thursday morning where he moved quite well. He trained with the midfield group when the Demons split into their lines in the back half of the session and move freely in the light session.
Petracca's teammates and Demons forwards Bayley Fritsch, who is managing a knee injury, and Charlie Spargo, who copped a knock to his throat last weekend, will also be hampered by injury.
The pair also trained on Thursday morning and looked comfortable as they got about the track.
Melbourne is expected to name their 22-man side on Thursday night in a bid to keep their season alive.