North warriors Drew Petrie and Brent Harvey started as housemates some 14 years ago and immediately struck up a strong rapport.

Petrie, then 19, spent his first year at North with a host family after being drafted from North Ballarat in 2000, before being invited by Harvey to move into his then Ascot Vale home.

For the next two years, an emerging Petrie lived with Harvey and drew inspiration from his older teammate, marking the beginning of a lifelong friendship.

"That was two of the best years I've had," Petrie told NMFC.com.au ahead of Harvey's 427th milestone match.

"We had lots of fun, and from a footballing point of view, I got to see how an absolute champion prepared each week, so I've been fortunate enough to see Brent 24/7, 365 (days) for two years and it's certainly taught me … how and what was required to become a good footballer.

"We were of similar character and had similar traits around the home; we're both pretty tidy people so that helped a lot."

The bond they formed at home quickly developed and translated into on-field success.

Interestingly, Harvey and Petrie will this week move into outright fourth for most games played together by two players (288) in VFL/AFL history.

Next week, they will tie with Richmond greats Kevin Bartlett and Francis Bourke in third (289 games), not too far behind the Sydney Swans' Adam Goodes and Jude Bolton (301), and Adelaide's Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards (307).

Petrie said he and Harvey still turned to each other for advice and were perhaps too open at times, reflecting the character of their friendship.

"I'll get in trouble for this off my wife but I'd almost tell Brent more stuff than I'd tell my wife," Petrie said light-heartedly.

"It's like that, it's where you speak about everything, there are no secrets between us and he's the first person I go to when I need advice on football."

Petrie remained thankful for the warmth he received from Harvey and his family when he moved down from regional Victoria to embark on his career with the Roos.

The tall forward was even invited to the Harvey's family dinner each week at their Preston home.

"He made me feel really welcome, I felt comfortable around him straight away despite him being a champion of the game already, and then (we) … became really close mates and we'd room together on interstate trips for a lot of years," Petrie said.

"Brent's family are awesome and me and him are great mates, we'll be mates for life – I hope he says the same thing about me.

"I don't want to overstate the friendship but it's a real tight one."

Petrie ended by saying Harvey embodied everything good about the Roos.

"Personally, he's inspired me and he's kept me driven to play footy as long as I have and to see him train hard and never miss a session at 38 (years old) sets the standard," he said.

"He deserves every accolade and every pat on the back that he gets. I know he won't like them all because he's not that sort of bloke, but he'll just want to win."