HARRISON Petty didn't know what was wrong. One moment he felt completely fine about to take his kick on the last line of defence. Then the MCG was spinning around him. The ball sprayed off the side of his boot, gifting Will Ashcroft a goal. Suddenly, the Narrm key defender was down on one knee. 

Ed Langdon, Xavier Taylor and Blake Howes quickly came to his aid, before Demons doctor Jacob Jewson helped him walk off the ground slowly with physio Zach Nelson. Petty's day was over just before three-quarter time in round six, but the issue wasn't clear. And in the days afterwards, it was unclear when he would return.

The 26-year-old has had multiple concussions in the past, but this felt different. He visited a neurological physio and underwent a battery of tests. Then a neurosurgeon, a dizziness expert and a cardiologist. They diagnosed the issue as a vestibular migraine, cleared him of concussion, and allowed him to return from the scary incident a fortnight later.

"I was feeling 100 per cent until I marked that ball in the goalsquare. Then all of a sudden, I got head spins and the whole MCG was spinning around and I could hardly see, it was blurry and stuff, so I really didn't know what to do with the ball, whether I needed to put it on the ground and sort of call the game off, or try and try hit the target, like I did. Obviously I missed and they capitalised with the goal," Petty told AFL.com.au this week. 

"I was very confused myself, because I've had my fair share of concussions in the past, but it never really felt like a concussion, so we were just sort of confused. Obviously later in that week, we got more tests done and saw specialists and worked out it was a vestibular migraine or vertigo in another way. So it was very confusing at the time, but I'm glad it worked out not to be concussion and was a migraine."

Petty had never had a migraine before that moment on April 19. The Demons upset the reigning premier in Brisbane's first visit to the stage of their back-to-back triumph last September, but the situation became part of the post-script.

"I've never had an issue with migraines in the past and I'm 26 years old, and never had one. So that's why I was so confused about it all," Petty said.

"They checked everything. I saw pretty much everyone to do with the brain and heart and everyone sort of got back to the idea that it was a migraine. They're pretty common in my family. They say it runs genetically, which I actually didn't know that my brother and sister get them badly, and my grandparents get them really badly too. I had no idea."

Petty has played two games since then, resuming his return to defence under new senior coach Steven King and new backline coach Jared Rivers. After spending last year at the other end of the ground, Petty is comfortable back in his natural habitat.

"I've really enjoyed it. I spent a few years being injured, so I'm just happy to be out there anywhere," Petty said. "But I grew up playing as a defender, and played a lot of AFL footy as a defender, so it's good to sort of get back there and settle down there with [Daniel] ‘Disco' Turner and Jake Lever. 

"I'd probably like to settle somewhere and try and get some continuity in my game. But I'm happy to do anything for the team, if that means I need to play forward, that means I need to play forward. I'd love to settle down in one of the two, preferably a key defender, but if that means ‘Kingy' throws me forward I'll play forward for whatever the team needs."

After winning only seven games in Simon Goodwin's final season at Narrm, the Demons have made a surprise rise early in 2026, starting the King era 6-3 after banking statement wins over St Kilda, Gold Coast and Brisbane. There is clean air about everything at the club, following widespread change from the president to CEO (twice) to coach to the star players over the past 12 months.

"Kingy has been awesome. He has brought a fresh feeling to the club," Petty said. "The boys are very happy playing a new sort of way, with a bit more freedom, bit more fun. You go into the club feeling happy and enjoying it, not saying I wasn't happy going in with Goody, but it sort of felt like we were just going in doing the same thing time after time. But with Kingy it's refreshing."

Narrm has shed its conservative, polite, posh skin under a new regime. Now the Demons are embracing social media, making fun of themselves, taking fans on the journey by creating activations like the Pickett Pocket at the MCG on Saturday against Hawthorn.

The membership campaign Awaken Your Demon and tone shift on Instagram and TikTok crossed a line they wouldn't have contemplated treading over in the past.

But did Patrick Voss cross a line with his taunting in round two? That incident was chastised in the media. The Fremantle forward was fined $1500 for mocking Petty in a similar manner to the Dayne Zorko sledge in 2022, while also rubbing his head.

"Look, I honestly didn't think it was going to be as big a story as what it was. Obviously a lot of lot of banter happens on the footy field, and obviously it pisses you off when it happens, so you just got to cop it," Petty said.

"Then once I received a text message after the game from ‘Vossy' saying sorry, I was like, 'yeah, no issues, mate'. It's just sort of the way footy is. There's banter and everything. I didn't think he crossed the line too much. I've got a bit of shit about my bald head over the years, so I'm used to it a bit. But yeah, I didn't think it was going to be as big as what it turned into, that's for sure."

Petty grew up in the tiny town of Wudinna in the wheat-growing region of the Eyre Peninsula, almost 600km away from Adelaide. He boarded at Rostrevor College in Years 11 and 12 and was drafted out of Norwood in the SANFL in 2017. He can never live at home and play in the AFL, but he can move closer. Much closer. 

When the Crows came for him in 2023, Petty wanted to move back to South Australia. It didn't get to a point where Demons list manager Tim Lamb and then Kuwarna list boss Justin Reid discussed the terms of a trade. Petty was contracted and Narrm didn't want to lose him. But the situation prompted a shift at the Demons.

"Obviously I had the opportunity to try and get home to Adelaide, which was probably my preference and be closer to family. My family don't live in Adelaide – they are six hours out of Adelaide – but being closer to them, being able to see them appealed, because I was struggling a fair bit with homesickness too. 

"I also had a partner at the time that is not my partner anymore, but she was also from Adelaide and she was also struggling with homesickness, so it was sort of trying to do the best thing for both of us. 

"The club did everything they can to help me fix my homesickness over here, which was allowing me to go back to Adelaide and see family as much as I sort of wanted to, and then trying to make time for me whenever my family was over to spend time with them as well. The club's been awesome with that. I feel like they've taken a big step forward, even with all the Kozzy [Pickett] stuff going on right now, allowing him to go up and see his daughter up in Darwin whenever he gets a chance to which is great to see."

Petty signed an extension until the end of 2027 only a matter of months after that move to Adelaide didn't materialise, underlining how he felt about the Demons. He wasn't unhappy, clearly, at the Narrm Football Club. But what happens next year when he is an unrestricted free agent?

"I do see a longer term here, especially the way we're playing right now," he said. "It's exciting, it's fun to be a part of. I've got a property over here now too, so I'm pretty comfortable over here at the moment, that's for sure."

Petty played in the 2021 premiership in his fourth season in the AFL. Narrm hasn't won a final since that 74-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Optus Stadium, which arrived eight days after the 83-point drubbing of Geelong on the same ground. This is a new era at the Demons, but Petty believes they are playing a brand that can carry them a long way in 2026.

"Anything is possible," he said. "We've just got to keep rocking up each week, putting our best foot forward, and keep playing a really exciting brand of football. A lot of players are in form at the moment, so we just need to keep rocking up each week and put our best foot forward, and anything can happen."

Petty is back on the park after the health scare in April, back in defence and back settled in Melbourne, the city, and the football club.