The 22-year-old laid a career-high 14 tackles in the win that catapulted the Demons back into the top eight and saw him singled out for praise by coach Dean Bailey after the match.
"Ricky had 14 tackles for the game and I don't know how many were inside the forward 50, but I reckon it would be something like 10 or 11," Bailey said.
"For him to be able to do that was outstanding and he was one of many in the forward line who tried to put as much pressure on their backs as they brought the ball out of their back 50 as they could."
Melbourne has averaged 71 tackles per game this season, but dug deep to pile on the pressure with 88 tackles to the Tigers' 71.
It was also a big step up for Petterd who has averaged just under four tackles in each of his eight games this season.
"Today I just focused on tackling and keeping the ball inside 50 to let the other boys have a go at it," Petterd said.
"Every week I like to try and focus on my tackling because it does get me into the game.
"I didn't get rewarded with the possessions and the goals today, but when you've got other blokes in the forward line like Col Sylvia, Liam Jurrah and Jack Watts then one of them is going to bob up and kick a few.
"It's going to be our time to do that at different stages from week to week."
Petterd, who finished goalless with 15 possessions, could have been forgiven for occasionally abandoning his defensive task to go hunting for opportunities to hit the scoreboard, but his attitude toward doing the team-first role reflects the growing maturity of Melbourne's forward line.
"I didn't mind it one bit because you know if it wasn't Liam's day early then he'd be chasing and the same with Col or anyone else," he said.
"It was just my turn to go today and I really enjoyed it.
"When you can feel that someone's on then you just make the decision to pull back and lay the tackles.
"As a group we're starting to become predictable to each other which is so important. We've been up and down in the past, but I think this game was massive for us. I think it's starting to come together."
