Petterd played the first two matches of 2011 in the Demons' senior team but was sent back to the VFL for a month in a bid to round out his game.
But after the Demons' disappointing loss to West Coast last week, Petterd was brought back in to the line-up and responded with a four-goal performance.
"I was back in the wilderness for a little bit but I got told to go back and play in different positions and work on a few things which I did," Petterd said.
"I was lucky enough to get another game. I had to go and focus on my role and anything else that happened after that was a bonus."
Petterd was used all over the ground in his stint at Casey, which he says may be a sign of things to come in his AFL career.
"Hopefully I can prove that when injuries happen, especially with the sub rule, that Dean hasn't got a problem with sending me up to the wing or something like that," he said.
"I'm just adding another string to my bow I suppose."
The Demons did not have to put too much thought into changing things in the comprehensive win over Adelaide on Sunday and Petterd spent most of the day playing up forward.
He says he is happy to work around the pillars of Melbourne's forward line Jack Watts and Liam Jurrah.
"Everyone wants to see Jack do well. He's a very good kid and he works extremely hard at training. He's got things to work on but when you see today him going up to take his grabs and he reaches his arms out he is very hard to stop. He will keep improving along with the rest of us," he said.
"We rotate a little bit. We go deep (in the forward line) and sometimes I'll play a defensive forward role on a good half-back like (Graham) Johncock today. We'll rotate a bit which is good because we've got flexibility through the ranks."
