TITLE CHASE DRIVES DEMON SALEM

CHRISTIAN Salem says his focus is breaking Melbourne’s flag drought after becoming the latest Demons star to sign a new deal.

As revealed on Friday, Salem has been locked away on a five-year deal that will secure him until 2026.

Since the end of last season Melbourne has secured vice-captain Jack Viney on a five-year deal, captain Max Gawn on a four-year extension and star mid Clayton Oliver on a two-year extension.

Young emerging stars such as Luke Jackson, Kysaiah Pickett and Trent Rivers have also signed contract extensions past their initial two-year deals.

Salem said on Friday he was thrilled to sign on and happy to have found some consistent form but would never lose sight of his ultimate goal.

“For me, my No 1 focus is simple, it’s to win a premiership. Five years is a long time and ultimately I want to get wins, play finals and win finals. I will do whatever I have to do to do that,” he said.

“I always wanted to be a Melbourne person. When we got to the club, we were down the bottom and starting from day one. A lot of the boys are still here and I don’t want to miss out on success. We all started together from a young age and we built something over the last few years coming from the bottom. We all want to stick together.”

Salem will forever be linked to the Josh Kelly trade that saw the Demons secure Salem, Dom Tyson and the pick that secured Jayden Hunt for the No 2 overall pick that saw the Giants secure the midfield star.

But while Kelly’s early form saw the Demons take heat, Salem’s strong form has seen the trade tilt back towards a win-win.

The Salem deal will leave young key forward Sam Weideman as the club’s biggest priority signing.

The Demons have such a wealth of forward options that Weideman could be a target for rival clubs but he will only be interested in establishing himself back in the senior side.

Oliver said recently he was thrilled to sign on given the club’s direction.

“I was always going to sign on — I love all the boys here, love the staff, so it was an easy decision,” he said.

Star midfielder Christian Petracca looks certain to be one of the AFL’s new milliondollar-a-year players when he signs his next contract, coming out at the end of next season.

Petracca said this month talk linking him to Collingwood was wide of the mark given his joy at playing with Melbourne.

“I did see it. I got a fair few text messages, few group chats from mates, but it’s all noise,” he said.

“I’m contracted for two years. All I really care about is just winning games of footy.

“I’ve been at the club six, seven years now, and I give so much back to the club. I’ve created so many friendships with them. It’s great.”