ON THE BACK of four goals against Adelaide Crows last round, Ricky Petterd speaks to melbournefc.com.au editor Matt Burgan in the lead-up to round eight
Well done on returning to the side last Sunday. You missed four matches, after playing in the opening two rounds. What was that period like for you?
RP: It was a bit tough early on. It was more me questioning why I was dropped, rather than the reasons behind it. Once you get your head behind that and you have a couple of conversations with the coach (Dean Bailey) and Mahns (Josh Mahoney) - it helps you out a lot. It gives you a lot of things to focus on specifically. I enjoy having a run around with the boys at VFL, because they’re a great bunch of fellas, but obviously I really want to be running around at the ‘G.
What was the area of your game you needed to work on?
RP: It was probably my flexibility. When I came to the club, I was really flexible in the positions that I could play. But as the game has gone on, I’ve suffered a few injuries, which has put me back. The last couple of years, I’ve been playing in the same spot. But I went back down to the VFL and played on-ball and on the wing and had an impact. I think Bails is a little bit more confident now to put me in different places, but ultimately I’d love to play up forward and play on the dangerous half-forward and shut them out.
It’s an interesting situation, as you originally came to the club as a half-back/winger. And you’ve since added the forward position to your bow.
RP: It feels like I’ve gone back the front. I came as a backman and now I’m a forward and now they’re trying to push me up the ground. There were obviously things I needed to work on and that flexibility was the main one.
You made an immediate impact as Melbourne’s inaugural substitute player against Sydney Swans in round one. You then played a full match the following round. Do you think being a sub may have also hindered you, because you played just one quarter in round one?
RP: No, I don’t think it hindered me. Mentally, I felt a little bit flat, because I’d missed so much football and I just wanted to play and I only played a quarter and a bit. Going into round two, I was confident I was playing my own role. Obviously I didn’t play that well and I was back in the VFL the week after.
Against Adelaide Crows last round, you kicked four goals and had a big impact on the win. What does a performance like that do for you?
RP: It does a fair bit for me. I focused on my main role, which was to make sure [Graham] Johncock had no influence on the game. The way I think about it is that if I’m stopping him, then we’re stopping the Crows coming out of their backline and that’s just massive for us. It helps us keep our ball inside our 50 and kick goals. If I do snag a couple - that’s a bonus. My number one purpose is to stop the opponent from getting a kick.
And yet you also kicked four goals.
RP: It proves to me a little bit that I can play footy again. I probably doubted myself a few weeks ago that I could play at this level. So to be out there and have an impact on the scoreboard as well, along with defensively, does give you a lot of confidence. But at the same time, you’ve got to move on and think about this week.
But the round before, in the space of five days, your preparation was quite an interesting one. You traveled to Perth as an emergency, then watched the boys produce a disappointing performance against West Coast. Then you flew back on the ‘red-eye’ in the early hours of Friday and played for Casey on Saturday. What were those few days like for you?
RP: It was more physically demanding than mentally. We flew over thinking we were a genuine chance. As an emergency, you had to prepare like you were playing on the Thursday night. Addam Maric, who was also an emergency, and I were carbohydrate loading on Tuesday and Wednesday night, just in case we were playing on Thursday night. Then if we weren’t playing, like we didn’t, then we had to carb load on Thursday and Friday night, because we were playing for Casey on Saturday. I went in three and half kilos heavier than I normally would. I just felt pretty heavy and I think I showed that in the way I played for Casey. I felt like I had run on a treadmill for half of the game.
Not many people outside of the club would realist that type of preparation occurred for you.
RP: Yeah it's different. The more food you put into your body, it’s hard not to eat when you’re away, plus I was trying to prepare, as I was playing AFL and then VFL. I was heavier than I normally was, but going into the Casey game, I tried to forget about the whole WA situation and focus on the Casey game.
During the week, it was revealed Jack Grimes (foot) and Jake Spencer (knee) would miss the rest of the season. Mark Jamar will also miss four to six weeks with a knee injury. How do you get around teammates when they are sidelined long-term?
RP: It does put a bit of a scare around the camp when you hear of blokes going down like that. Guys like Jack are so important and ‘Pencil’ (Spencer) is an up-and-coming ruckman. Seeing those boys spend a year out of the game - I know what it’s like spending a long period out of the game. They’re mature boys and they’ll do their recovery and they’ll come back bigger and better.
Personally, how are you approaching this round on the back of your impressive performance against the Crows?
RP: This week, I may play on someone like [Brady] Rawlings, who has a lot of influence in their backline. But if not, I just want to focus on my defensive side. We’ve been lacking tackles inside 50 this year, so it’s something that I really want to focus on. Hopefully we’ll push that up a bit and I’ll bring a few boys along with me.
What’s it like playing as a mid-sized forward? We generally hear about key talls and smalls in the game, but not the ‘in between’ forwards as much.
RP: It’s good and bad in a way. When the team isn’t going well, you’re the scapegoat in some ways. You’re not a key position forward, so if you’re not in good form, it’s a bit hard. I reckon it’s good in a way though, because you can become a really dangerous player. Opposition teams don’t know who to play on you - do they play a tall or a small? You can crumb or get your opponent in the air. It’s got its positives and negatives.
Overall, how do you compare the week following the West Coast loss, as opposed to the week after the Adelaide win?
RP: There has definitely been a lot more smiles this week. We understood why we played so well [against Adelaide]. Our tackling and intensity was the best it’s been. Since Monday, the coaches have kept telling us that’s how it’s got to be. The playing group had a meeting during the week and we all understand where we’re at and we can’t get ahead of ourselves. For us, it really does start at training, by all of the boys using their voice and intent. Our contested possessions and tackling will get us into the game early. And we’ve just got to bring that same intent on Saturday.
Well done on returning to the side last Sunday. You missed four matches, after playing in the opening two rounds. What was that period like for you?
RP: It was a bit tough early on. It was more me questioning why I was dropped, rather than the reasons behind it. Once you get your head behind that and you have a couple of conversations with the coach (Dean Bailey) and Mahns (Josh Mahoney) - it helps you out a lot. It gives you a lot of things to focus on specifically. I enjoy having a run around with the boys at VFL, because they’re a great bunch of fellas, but obviously I really want to be running around at the ‘G.
What was the area of your game you needed to work on?
RP: It was probably my flexibility. When I came to the club, I was really flexible in the positions that I could play. But as the game has gone on, I’ve suffered a few injuries, which has put me back. The last couple of years, I’ve been playing in the same spot. But I went back down to the VFL and played on-ball and on the wing and had an impact. I think Bails is a little bit more confident now to put me in different places, but ultimately I’d love to play up forward and play on the dangerous half-forward and shut them out.
It’s an interesting situation, as you originally came to the club as a half-back/winger. And you’ve since added the forward position to your bow.
RP: It feels like I’ve gone back the front. I came as a backman and now I’m a forward and now they’re trying to push me up the ground. There were obviously things I needed to work on and that flexibility was the main one.
You made an immediate impact as Melbourne’s inaugural substitute player against Sydney Swans in round one. You then played a full match the following round. Do you think being a sub may have also hindered you, because you played just one quarter in round one?
RP: No, I don’t think it hindered me. Mentally, I felt a little bit flat, because I’d missed so much football and I just wanted to play and I only played a quarter and a bit. Going into round two, I was confident I was playing my own role. Obviously I didn’t play that well and I was back in the VFL the week after.
Against Adelaide Crows last round, you kicked four goals and had a big impact on the win. What does a performance like that do for you?
RP: It does a fair bit for me. I focused on my main role, which was to make sure [Graham] Johncock had no influence on the game. The way I think about it is that if I’m stopping him, then we’re stopping the Crows coming out of their backline and that’s just massive for us. It helps us keep our ball inside our 50 and kick goals. If I do snag a couple - that’s a bonus. My number one purpose is to stop the opponent from getting a kick.
And yet you also kicked four goals.
RP: It proves to me a little bit that I can play footy again. I probably doubted myself a few weeks ago that I could play at this level. So to be out there and have an impact on the scoreboard as well, along with defensively, does give you a lot of confidence. But at the same time, you’ve got to move on and think about this week.
But the round before, in the space of five days, your preparation was quite an interesting one. You traveled to Perth as an emergency, then watched the boys produce a disappointing performance against West Coast. Then you flew back on the ‘red-eye’ in the early hours of Friday and played for Casey on Saturday. What were those few days like for you?
RP: It was more physically demanding than mentally. We flew over thinking we were a genuine chance. As an emergency, you had to prepare like you were playing on the Thursday night. Addam Maric, who was also an emergency, and I were carbohydrate loading on Tuesday and Wednesday night, just in case we were playing on Thursday night. Then if we weren’t playing, like we didn’t, then we had to carb load on Thursday and Friday night, because we were playing for Casey on Saturday. I went in three and half kilos heavier than I normally would. I just felt pretty heavy and I think I showed that in the way I played for Casey. I felt like I had run on a treadmill for half of the game.
Not many people outside of the club would realist that type of preparation occurred for you.
RP: Yeah it's different. The more food you put into your body, it’s hard not to eat when you’re away, plus I was trying to prepare, as I was playing AFL and then VFL. I was heavier than I normally was, but going into the Casey game, I tried to forget about the whole WA situation and focus on the Casey game.
During the week, it was revealed Jack Grimes (foot) and Jake Spencer (knee) would miss the rest of the season. Mark Jamar will also miss four to six weeks with a knee injury. How do you get around teammates when they are sidelined long-term?
RP: It does put a bit of a scare around the camp when you hear of blokes going down like that. Guys like Jack are so important and ‘Pencil’ (Spencer) is an up-and-coming ruckman. Seeing those boys spend a year out of the game - I know what it’s like spending a long period out of the game. They’re mature boys and they’ll do their recovery and they’ll come back bigger and better.
Personally, how are you approaching this round on the back of your impressive performance against the Crows?
RP: This week, I may play on someone like [Brady] Rawlings, who has a lot of influence in their backline. But if not, I just want to focus on my defensive side. We’ve been lacking tackles inside 50 this year, so it’s something that I really want to focus on. Hopefully we’ll push that up a bit and I’ll bring a few boys along with me.
What’s it like playing as a mid-sized forward? We generally hear about key talls and smalls in the game, but not the ‘in between’ forwards as much.
RP: It’s good and bad in a way. When the team isn’t going well, you’re the scapegoat in some ways. You’re not a key position forward, so if you’re not in good form, it’s a bit hard. I reckon it’s good in a way though, because you can become a really dangerous player. Opposition teams don’t know who to play on you - do they play a tall or a small? You can crumb or get your opponent in the air. It’s got its positives and negatives.
Overall, how do you compare the week following the West Coast loss, as opposed to the week after the Adelaide win?
RP: There has definitely been a lot more smiles this week. We understood why we played so well [against Adelaide]. Our tackling and intensity was the best it’s been. Since Monday, the coaches have kept telling us that’s how it’s got to be. The playing group had a meeting during the week and we all understand where we’re at and we can’t get ahead of ourselves. For us, it really does start at training, by all of the boys using their voice and intent. Our contested possessions and tackling will get us into the game early. And we’ve just got to bring that same intent on Saturday.
