North Melbourne’s second round draft selection (no. 23) in the 2000 National Draft, Petrie is now a seasoned campaigner. The 26 year-old has been a regular in the Kangaroos’ team since 2003 and notched up his 150th game in 2008.

Petrie has been used in a variety of roles throughout his career, primarily as a pinch-hitting forward and in the ruck. He’s had to come up against much bigger opponents, yet still provides plenty of hit-outs for his team.

After playing as a forward in the 2007 campaign and booting 38 goals, Petrie was expected to have even more of a presence in the forward line in 2008 but it wasn’t to be.

The 26 year-old played the important role of dropping back in defence and had the most consistent season of his career. He constantly repelled the opposition attack and took vital marks to help North Melbourne to the finals.

The big man was awarded the vice-captaincy after presenting fine leadership skills during the year and finished second in the Syd Barker Medal for 2008. He was also given the honor of representing his country in the International Rules series.

Much was expected of Petrie in 2009, and he was able to continue the form that had seen him gain so much respect from the footballing world the previous year. He went on to play every game, and was given the freedom to move up forward thanks to the development of Scott Thompson and Nathan Grima in defence, and Todd Goldstein stepping up to assist Hamish McIntosh in the ruck.

The former North Ballarat junior booted 27 goals for the season to add a new dimension to his game, and ended the year on a high with match winning performances against St Kilda and Port Adelaide.

Darren Crocker 2009 review:
The flexibility, heart and work-rate Drewy gives is phenomenal. He can go everywhere but it's been to Drewy's detriment that we've actually tried to play him mobile ruck, centre half-back, wing rollback and half-forward. We really saw Drew play his best footy at the end of the year when we just settled him into a key forward position. He was just tremendous in the last month and will be extremely important to us and the young players around him with how he goes about his football.

Draft history: 2000 National AFL Draft 2nd round selection (North Melbourne) No. 23 overall traded by Adelaide for Evan Hewitt.
First game for North Melbourne: Round 1, 2001 v Essendon
Player honours: 2nd Best and Fairest 2008, International Rules Series 2008
Brownlow Medal: 30 career votes

Player sponsors: Megan and Wayne Goldspink; Jill, Laura and David Edmonds

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