AFL chief medical officer Dr Michael Makdissi sought clarification from Melbourne’s doctors the day after the game, and was “comfortable” with the process involved with Petracca, this masthead reported at the time.

However, Marsh previously said the PA wanted greater clarity.

“I guess we’ll see how it plays out, but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t go down a path of trying to understand what happened,” Marsh told SEN in September.

“The AFL has, obviously, come out and said that they’ve cleared Melbourne, we’re trying to understand on what basis that’s the case. We are concerned about how this has played out from a player’s perspective, and I think on face value, we all should be concerned about what nearly happened here.

“What can we learn from this? We’re not baying for blood here. What we’re trying to do is understand what happened … we have to learn from these things because it’s a high-risk sport at times. I think we’ve got to make sure that the medical support that sits around the players is as good as it can possibly be.”

This masthead is not suggesting there was any wrongdoing by the Demons, only that the PA has initiated a review.

How the Demons handled Petracca’s time in hospital, and the contact between the club and player, also became a source of friction between the player and club. As a result, Petracca asked to be traded, but that request was rejected by the club.

A source aware of the Petracca issue said while the union could review the matter, it did not have official powers to investigate under AFL rules.

Petracca’s manager Robbie D’Orazio said he wasn’t across the full details of the review, but said Petracca – back in pre-season training – was “going extremely well”.