CHRISTIAN Petracca showed glimpses of his best footy in 2019, but says he’s just getting started.

The 23-year-old, who was selected with pick No.2 in the 2014 National Draft, had a bit of a slow start to the season, before really finding his feet at the top level.

“I feel like my first three or four rounds I was getting to the ball, but it probably just wasn’t happening – I wasn’t quite doing what I usually do around the footy,” Petracca told Melbourne Media.

“It was really pleasing that the last three quarters of the season I was able to get back to my strengths, which is winning the ball around the contest.

“I think as soon as you get back to the nuts and grits of your game, the rest of the game just flows from there and your confidence just gets back to normal.

“I’m just really excited for next year because I feel like I’ve definitely spring boarded myself into a good pre-season.”

Although the versatile forward copped some scrutiny early in the season, he knew he was on track for a strong campaign.

“It always takes three of four weeks for your habits to show out on the ground,” Petracca said.

“My off-field stuff was fine, so I knew that wasn’t a problem and I knew some good footy was going to come.

“I just had to keep trusting the process and control the controllables really and worry about what I could do.”

Petracca led his side’s goal kicking this season, slotting 22 majors from his 22 games, but says he eyes a role change in 2020.

“I think next year will be the year that I play a bit more midfield,” he said.

“I don’t want to lose that forward side of things though – I feel like that’s a really good trait to have in your game. Being able to rest down there and play as a forward is valuable.

“The last three or four weeks I started to play a bit more midfield and got exposed to a bit more.

“But I’ve got some deficiencies in my game with my running and endurance that I know I need to work on, and I’m not hiding away from that.

“I’m just excited for this off-season and pre-season, to get things going and leap into next year.”

Like all athletes, Petracca is at his best when his confidence is high, and he has slowly been able to build that up throughout 2019.

“Confidence is massive in anything you do – it’s not just about footy, it’s everything in life,” he said.

“You need the self-belief and the inner belief if you want to be successful or do something well.

“My game has always been built around confidence and instinct and playing on the edge.

“Everyone can probably see the moment I overthink or second guess myself, so I’ve just got to keep that confidence up.”

And while Petracca is in a really good mindset to attack 2020, he’s also in a great position physically to get himself right over the off-season.

“This year will be the first year I haven’t had surgery in a while, and I’ll be having a full pre-season so I’m very excited for that,” he said.

“It’s good to get a little break first, have a few weeks off to mentally refresh and get away from the club, but then from there just go bang with all eyes on next year.”