IT WAS just round two, but one of the upsets of the season looked to be on the way on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the MCG.

Reigning wooden-spooners Melbourne were coming hard at premiership fancies Collingwood when a high ball was kicked to the Demons’ goal square deep into time-on in the final term.

Melbourne forward Ricky Petterd was under the ball, but staring into the late afternoon April sun, he couldn’t pull down the mark. The ball fell free, and Collingwood escaped with a one-point win.

Just a month later, Petterd's season was finished by a severe shoulder injury.

The 21-year-old says that the unwanted free time that comes with being an injured footballer meant he couldn’t help but reflect on what might have been against the Pies.

“I probably think about it more now than I did straight after that game, because you just have to get on with it and you’ve got a game the next week," Petterd told melbournefc.com.au.

"You can’t dwell on it for too long. I probably would have done my head in if I was thinking about it too much. But now I’m not playing and have time to think about what happened, you do start to wonder ‘what if', but it’s something I have to deal with.”

The match was one of Petterd’s finest in his 35-game AFL career. He booted four goals from 17 disposals, kicking off a rich vein of form that came to an abrupt end with the shoulder injury.

Petterd says his frustration at the injury was compounded by his own good form and that of the team.

“To have hit a bit of form and play good football within the team when the team is going so well, that is the disappointing side of it," he said.

"I know the team was going somewhere, and I couldn’t be a part of it this year. I look forward to getting back next year and hopefully start where I left off."

Petterd starting running earlier this week, but his faint hopes of returning before the end of the season have been dashed after a recent meeting with his surgeon.

Melbourne’s medical team is confident Petterd can make a full return from the shoulder injury, but for now, he is making himself useful as an assistant to forward line coach Josh Mahoney. He says the experience has helped broaden his own football education.

“I’ve been doing a little bit. I’ve started having a look at other clubs and pointing out what they do well and what we can use against them. It’s something I enjoy doing. I really like to watch football so it’s not really a burden to me at all,” he said.

As a promising young player from south-east Queensland, it was inevitable that Petterd’s name would come up in rumours about a transfer to Gold Coast next season. Those rumours gained extra momentum when he was spotted at a Gold Coast game not long after injuring his shoulder, but he says that was a case of people mistakenly jumping to conclusions.

“The curtain-raiser was a Surfers Paradise game and that was my junior club, so I had mates playing in that game and I went to watch them,” he said.

“Gold Coast happened to play afterwards, so I watched a bit of their game (and) then left to go and watch the Dees play on TV. I don’t see what the big deal was about.”

For the record, Petterd has no plans to move back to his home state, and he's more than happy to be part of an emerging Demons outfit.

“It’s an exciting place to be," he said.

"It’s in the hands of my manager and the club now, so there’s not much I can really do. They will look after it, I’m sure.”