EMERGING half-back/midfielder Ricky Petterd talks to melbournefc.com.au about his journey into the AFL from Queensland, after being drafted in 2006. He also talks about some of friendships and interests away from the game in the second of a two-part series.

You're now in your second season with Melbourne. Have you reflected much on your time in the AFL so far, on top of your junior career with representative Queensland sides and Broadbeach?
RP: I do. I still like getting home and back to the Broadbeach footy club. I love supporting them and they're a really great club and I also like supporting the Queensland team is down here as well – you always like to watch them. You've always got to remember where you come from. I talk to Dad about the fact it was only a couple of years ago I was playing for Queensland and now I've been through a bit, so you can take it for granted, if you don't think about it much.

Being a Queensland boy, what are your thoughts on a likely Gold Coast team entering the AFL?
If AFL keeps growing in Queensland, that's going to be a great thing, but I reckon that's going to be the biggest problem – if it's going to keep continuing to get bigger and bigger. With all of the publicity that's going to go on, I suppose it will catch on and I reckon it'll be great for the Gold Coast with a lot more people living and moving there, so I don't see why it won't work.

And being a local product – whether you like it or not – you'll be a target for the new team. How will you handle that situation?
I don't know if they would want me – I've had a lung and groin problem and haven't had the best streak (laughs). They probably will poach Gold Coast kids – there's no reason why they wouldn't – but I'm very happy at Melbourne. I really enjoy the club. The boys are really good, Dean [Bailey] has been really good and I'm really excited about the next few years here. I know we're struggling at the moment, but there is a great young list here, with some great young kids and a few older heads that can take us a long way, I reckon.

Harking back before the draft, where did you think you would end up and what were your perceptions of Melbourne?
I didn't think I'd be at Melbourne. I talked to Melbourne once at Draft Camp, for five or six minutes and that was it – nothing serious, nothing long and they didn't really look interested. I spoke to most – 14 or 15 clubs and some more than others – but as soon as I got drafted, I looked up on the net about Melbourne. I realised they'd been in the finals for three of the past four seasons and I'd seen Sandringham had won the past three Grand Finals, so I thought: 'Gee, this is going to be a long time before I play AFL footy'. Every club has their down times, but I think we're on the way up and a lot of kids here can do that.

Who have been some of the players you have formed close friendships with at the club?
 James Frawley and I kicked it off the first time we met – it sounds a bit weird, but we got drafted together and we're the same type of blokes. We're both pretty laid back and he's a funny kid, so we get along really well. And that's the same with a couple of the older blokes who have been here for three or four years, like Michael Newton and Lynden Dunn. I also live with Daniel Bell and Jace Bode. Daniel takes me and Jace under his wing a bit, so we just feed off Daniel, which is pretty good.

What else are you up to away from the game?
I'm doing a personal training course. I'm doing one with 'Bater' [Matthew Bate], 'Juice' [Michael Newton] and 'Belly' [Daniel Bell]. We had a test the other day actually and I've got a bet on with 'Juice' about it, so we'll see how we go. I finished school in Grade 10 and starting working, so I didn't do a lot of exams, so it was pretty weird to get back into the study. Daniel has been helping me out, but it's helped me take my mind off footy and it takes a little bit of pressure and you can think about something else, so it's good.

Is personal training an area you'd like to get involved with long-term?
For the moment, it's about learning my body a bit more, but next year and the year after, I'll really start to pursue something that I want to do after footy.

For Part One click here