‘Need to do better’: Dees star tackles taggers

Melbourne star Christian Petracca says he needs to play more aggressively when he’s tagged as he prepares for a Geelong stopper to be sent to him in Saturday night’s MCG blockbuster.

Petracca was well held by Brisbane’s Jarrod Berry in the Demons’ pre-bye loss before he was influential against Richmond despite being restricted to eight kicks by Marlion Pickett.

He said he was pleased with his stoppage performance in the win over the Tigers but had to be more combative the next time he faced the same level of opposition attention.

After Geelong sent Mark O’Connor to Sam Walsh and Mark Blicavs to Patrick Cripps to continue its undefeated start to the season on Saturday, Petracca said he anticipated one of the pair would be assigned to him in the round 8 clash.

“For me, it’s just trying to be as unselfish as possible – if they’re going to me, it allows other players to go into the midfield and get the ball,” he said.

“I think Walsh got tagged by O’Connor on the weekend and Blicavs went to Cripps, so it’s something I’ll obviously plan for and do some research.

“I can’t just concede that I’m getting tagged, I also need to do a better job of being aggressive and still playing my game and backing myself in.”

The Demons went to halftime against the Tigers last week trailing by one point after a raft of skill errors that coach Simon Goodwin said “made a few people laugh” in the Melbourne box.

Petracca said the sloppy kicking would be looked at but he praised the intent of his teammates for trying to be creative with their disposal.

“We’ll address it, but I like the fact that we’re going for those kicks – I’d rather us be brave with the footy and take those kicks than not go for it and be safe down the line,” he said.

“Rick had a few – Jake Lever sorry, we call him Rick – had a few kicks inboard that missed, but I’d rather him go for it and be confident in himself than not go for it.”

The Demons found an important forward target in Daniel Turner (three goals) against the Tigers and could add another dimension to their attack this week after Adelaide recruit Shane McAdam made a blistering return from injury in the VFL.

The 28-year-old, who joined Melbourne in exchange for a future second-round pick, launched at the ball in the air for five marks and kicked 3.0 in Casey’s 20-point loss to Richmond.

“(McAdam) has been awesome. Coming from a different club, I think we underestimate how hard it is probably from a mental point of view and physical to change clubs and change environment,” Petracca said.

“From Halls Creek, moving down to Adelaide and then to Melbourne … he’s had a few injuries in the pre-season, but I think the high performance (staff) have done an incredible job with that.

“You saw on the weekend with his attack on the footy, it’s something really special for us.

“I have no doubt it’s in the coming weeks, but he’s an exciting prospect, a few of the hangers he took on the weekend … I’d love to play with him.”