Former second pick in the draft, Melbourne star Christian Petracca, has pledged his loyalty to the Demons' faithful suggesting he wants to be a one-club player for his career.
Coming out of contract at season's end, the 22-year-old midfield/forward is hopeful of staying a Demon, which is sure to delight Melbourne fans.
"I want to be here, I love it here and I'm pretty sure everyone knows that." Petracca told the Herald Sun.
The young star had a breakout year in 2017, showing glimpses of his X-factor potential, hoping to relish more time in the midfield in 2018.
However, unlike most stars in recent years, he [Petracca] is hoping to put contract negotiations to bed early, focusing on his footy instead.
"It is up to my manager and myself to work out something but something will get done and I want to be here," Petracca said.
“Australians are pretty loyal and we are pretty passionate and who doesn’t want to be a one-club player?"
With AFLX all but now wrapped up, the attention will turn to the JLT Community Series, with teams looking to get game-time into their young stars, as well as recovering veterans who went under the knife during the summer.
Melbourne's Football Boss, Josh Mahoney, has confirmed that the Demons will take no chances, wanting to get into form early before their Round 1 clash with Geelong.
Dom Tyson, Dean Kent and Aaron Vandenberg will also feature in the pre-season warm up games, putting to bed their off-season niggles, with only Viney the major concern for the Demons.
"Jack has come back since the Christmas break and trained really strongly. He has had no hiccups in his preparation and we are still optimistically pointed towards Round 1," Mahoney said.
The Demons will play North Melbourne on Saturday in their first pre-season clash.
