Petracca’s Brownlow Medal hopes plummet after hamstring injury
Gold Coast recruit Christian Petracca was shaping as the recruit of the AFL season after two rounds, before injury struck the Demons premiership player in their 60-point win over RIchmond.
Petracca had been sliced into $10 to win the Brownlow Medal after his brilliant start to the year which included successive best-on-ground performances against Geelong and West Coast.
But a seemingly innocuous incident has left the 30-year-old with a potentially serious hamstring injury and seen his Brownlow Medal odds balloon out to $34.
“He (Petracca) just got pushed as he kicked, had a little bit of hamstring awareness, so we sort of just parked him really,” Suns coach Damien Hardwick said.
“He’s obviously an important player for us. We’ve got a bye next week, so we’ll just work our way through the process of getting him scanned and then once we have more information we’ll give it to you.”
After the bye, the rampaging Suns, who are now the premiership favourite at $5, have a date with Petracca’s former club, a clash that he is unlikely to play in, although Hartwick would not rule it out categorically.
“Obviously we’re always hopeful, but from our point of view we’ll just wait until our doctors can assess it and then we’ll figure out what the correct decision will be,” he said.
“I think he’s just keen to play, he loves playing, you see the smile on his face, he’s just loving, I think the way his footy’s going first and foremost. He’s probably been pretty close to the best player in the first couple of rounds.”
Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli is favourite at $3.00 to win the Brownlow Medal, with the gun midfielder narrowly ahead of Collingwood ace Nick Daicos ($3.50).
Bontempelli has been brilliant in 2026 with the Bulldogs undefeated after three rounds and one of the Suns’ biggest threats to their maiden premiership, especially if their captain remains fit.
Noah Anderson ($18.00), Zak Butters ($21.00), Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera ($26.00), Caleb Serong, Petracca ($34.00), Ed Richards and Jordan Dawson ($41.00) round out the top 10.
