- Christian Petracca could not contain his emotion after a recent loss against Geelong
- AFL GREAT says he should have saved emotion for closed doors
The former hero of Hawthorn Jordan Lewis aroused controversy by criticizing the emotional response of Christian Petracca at the start of the Dismons nightmare in the 2025 AFL season.
The incident occurred after Melbourne fell to his fourth defeat of the season, losing against Geelong 12.13 (85) at 6.10 (46) at the Ghmba stadium on Friday evening.
It was a familiar story for demons, which had more inside the 1950s than the Cats but which used the ball horribly and finished with only six goals for the match.
Petracca cut a broken silhouette as he left the field after the match, angry with his face and wiping tears in a visceral reaction captured by the broadcasting cameras.
Appearing on Fox Footy on the sofa on Monday, Lewis said he understood Petracca’s reaction, but said he should have been kept behind closed doors.
“I feel for him. It is clearly an emotional person. Now, would I do this, or would I like one of my teammates doing this? No, “said Lewis.
Jordan Lewis criticized Christian Petracca’s emotional response to the loss of demons, who saw the star in an obvious distress and erase tears while he was leaving the field
The discouraged demons are illustrated after having disappeared 0-4 thanks to their loss against Geelong last Friday evening
“Der its closed doors, you can be emotional and have really constructive conversations, but – and maybe it’s the old school – never show this type of emotion on the ground.
“Because I think that in the end, you have it, which is clearly disappointed, it means a lot for him, it’s a competitor, he likes to win. And then you have Clayton Oliver – which is also competitive – effectively joking with opposition players at the end of the game. So they are separate kilometers in terms of (type of emotion).
The football legends Jonathan Brown and Jack Riewoldt both agreed that they would prefer an emotional petracca to a relatively unphaseed oliver, but Lewis insisted
“I think we know he cares,” said Lewis. “I don’t know, I just think that (he should) have these conversations and let these emotions boil behind closed doors.
“And I don’t know if it’s good or bad, (but) that’s exactly what I expected from my teammates … You never wanted to show weakness or emotion.”
The big Nathan Buckley said it was great that Petracca cares about his team, but he would like to see actions on the field more than anything else.
“His actions (in the field) were positive. He emptied. It was upset not having obtained the results, “said Buckley.
“This is where you should come back if his emotions had a negative impact on what he did during the game … or a negative impact on his teammates – this is when you have to challenge him.
Jordan Lewis (photo in his game days) says he was against this kind of emotion on the field
Petracca’s emotional reaction came after the rumors he wanted to leave the club last year
“After the match, it is only a wave of emotion, and to be honest, it had no consequences.
“It’s just a very public demonstration of disappointment. But he performed very well, compared to his cohort, so he cannot be disappointed with this.
Some football fans went to social networks to defend Petracca and Slam Lewis for what they consider to be his insensitive point of view, which arrives at a time when the AFL increases its efforts to help players who suffer mentally.
“Shout and cry for a men’s mental health round then say like that,” posted an X user.
“Shame on you Jordan Lewis,” said another.
Melbourne will face Essendon (1-2) during a round confrontation at the Oval of Adelaide next Saturday evening.
