Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has refused to confirm if disgruntled superstar Christian Petracca has guaranteed him he wants to remain at the Demons.
The Demons' season from hell ended with a 15.13 (103) to 8.9 (57) defeat to Collingwood on Friday night as they miss the finals for the first time since 2020.
A year that began with doubt surrounding star midfielder Clayton Oliver's future has ended with speculation swirling about Petracca.
The 28-year-old is understood to be considering his future at Melbourne, despite being contracted at the club until the end of 2029.
Petracca was scheduled to do a TV interview before the Demons' clash with Collingwood on Friday, but Steven May filled in, talking about his teammate's mental health struggles.
Goodwin and Demons football boss Alan Richardson have repeatedly insisted Petracca is going nowhere and will remain at the club long-term.
After the loss against the Magpies, Goodwin was asked if Petracca had reassured him recently that his intentions were to stay at Melbourne.
"He's got a five-year contract, so he'll be seeing it out," Goodwin replied.
"We'll catch up in the next few days and have those discussions.
"But where we sit today, he will be at the Melbourne footy club for the next five years.
"They're the facts, and that's what will happen."
Petracca spent time away from the club, including a stint in Noosa, as he processed the traumatic season-ending injuries he suffered during the King's Birthday match against the Magpies.
Some players were unaware Petracca was in Queensland until they saw posts on social media.
"Communication has been really strong, internally, around Christian," Goodwin said.
"It's been expressed to the players and the staff what Christian was going through and his need to get away from the footy club on numerous occasions.
"It was also spoken at length within leadership groups and we were there to support Christian.
"But ultimately, until you hear it from Christian, and that's been the difference, everyone gets a deeper level understanding."
Goodwin said it "hurt" to not be playing finals after winning the 2021 premiership, then bowing out in straight sets in 2022 and 2023.
"We want to be a team that's playing finals every year," he said.
"In saying that, after some long years we get a chance to take a really good break and reset our club and our team, and we'll head into next year with a lot of optimism.
"For all the challenges that we've had throughout the season, we've still unearthed a lot of young players we think will take us forward as a footy club.
"That's only going to hold us in great stead once we get our senior players back up, really healthy, really fit and really connected."
