McRae responds to Petracca rumours

Collingwood coach Craig McRae has reluctantly commented on his club’s links to Melbourne star Christian Petracca.

With Petracca trying to plot a path out of Melbourne, both Carlton and the Pies have been flagged as potential suitors for the 28-year-old given his desire to play for a big Victorian club in the premiership window.

Given Petracca is contracted until the end of the 2029 season, a potential trade would take a lot of work to do and given Collingwood’s lack of draft capital, McRae says it's “unrealistic”.

The Pies will head into the 2024 draft with picks 32, 48 and 50.

“It comes up in list management and whether that’s Christian Petracca or other things that come up because managers do talk, they talk openly all the time and it’s not just headlines,” McRae told SEN’s Run Home.

“When names come up, you go ‘what’s the reality’ and if we’re using Petracca as an example, we’re going ‘well what do you want a pick 40 or a pick 50? There’s a reality of it.

“Like I said in my press conference, I joke about saying I’ve got a car park for him because you’re having fun with it because it’s just unrealistic.

“You deal in facts and you deal with what’s real and I’m not privy to why or how or what the rumours are but we have our own draft hand and that probably doesn’t work.

“It sits over there in the wish list, it’s one of those things that I don’t think that’s reality based on our draft hand.

“There’s a huge influence from that management, no doubt they have players that are disgruntled and players that want more or less.

“Most of the stuff that you hear get out, where do you think that comes from?”

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