MELBOURNE youngster Ricky Petterd says he is relishing the opportunity to play up forward, despite being a noted half-back/midfielder.

Petterd played just his 12th AFL match in Melbourne's 34-point loss to North Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday. After two injury-riddled seasons with the Demons, he impressed inside 50 with a classy checkside goal and 16 touches.

"I like it, I like it a lot [playing up forward]. It's challenging in a way with the set-ups. I missed doing the punch instead of the mark, but I enjoy it," Petterd told melbournefc.com.au.

"The coach has given me free reign, so I've got a bit of a license. The boys down back are pretty settled, so they're going to be a really strong group.

"I've been put in that role for a couple of weeks now. Up in Cairns when we played Brisbane, [forwards coach] Josh Mahoney said to me: 'There is an opportunity up forward and we want you to take it and play a certain role and also focus on defence'."

"So I've just got to do that and hopefully the rest pays off."

But the simple fact Petterd was playing at the highest level after some debilitating injuries – including a life-threatening punctured lung in 2007 – was something he was not taking for granted.

Add to that the groin injury that kept him to just two games last year and it's not hard to see why he was itching to play. 

"I just came back in the pre-season and didn't have any injuries and I was fresh and really, really excited to be back out there," Petterd said.

"Hopefully I can bounce back and it'll all pay off."

Despite the opening round loss, Petterd said the Demons had plenty of improvement to come.

"There were some positives [against North Melbourne], but we're still here to win and with the pre-season we've had, we expected to win," he said.

"We've still got a lot of good players to come back – [Matthew] Whelan, [Paul] Wheatley and [Mark] Jamar – so you've got to keep playing well and fight for your spot, otherwise they're just going to come back and take it.

"So it's going to be competitive in the next few weeks."