IN THE 1990s North Melbourne fans used to rue the fact there was only one Wayne Carey to go around.

Against Richmond at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, they could easily have made the same lament about Drew Petrie.

While Carey made his name as the best centre half-forward of his era, he was almost as effective when stationed at centre half-back. The idea of having two Wayne Careys, one for each position, was a fantasy some Kangaroos fans liked to indulge in.

Similarly, North would have loved two Drew Petries on Sunday. One to dominate in the air up forward and one to marshall the troops down back and provide Todd Goldstein with a hand in the ruck.

After an injury-plagued 2010 season and a slow start to 2011, Petrie was outstanding on Sunday against Richmond.

Like Carey, he did his best work on the forward line, booting a game-high six goals.

Like Carey, it was an all-round performance. He was dominant in the air and at ground level.

In the opening minute of the game, Petrie led and marked strongly inside North’s forward 50. While his shot for goal sailed wide and short, it led to an Andrew Swallow goal.

Petrie got in on the goalkicking act himself less than a minute later, winning a free kick 20m out from goal and this time making no mistake.

Manned by Alex Rance, Petrie was clearly too strong for the young Richmond defender.

Petrie kicked his second goal at the 10-minute mark of the first quarter, when he pounced on a loose ball, electing to take the advantage after a free kick had been paid to Jack Ziebell.

With Petrie presenting such a strong forward 50 target and Lachie Hansen working hard further up the ground, North’s forward line suddenly looked far more potent than it had previously in 2011.

At quarter-time, with their vice-captain firing again, the Roos led by 22 points.

While the Tigers came back in the second quarter, Petrie continued to stand tall.

When the margin was cut to nine points, he plucked a touched Sam Wright shot at goal out of the air, then kicked a fall-away banana goal from the right-hand side of the goalsquare.

Later in the quarter, he kept his feet after a marking contest in the goalsquare and soccered a goal with his left foot.

Increasingly, as the game wore on and Richmond’s control of general play grew, Petrie was required up the ground. To provide a target at kick-ins and to give ruckman Todd Goldstein a hand.

Finally, with the game in the balance in the final quarter, Petrie focused again on providing a target in attack.

He kicked two goals for the term - North's only two goals for the quarter - with the last at the 19-minute mark putting his side one point up.

Alas, he could not hold back Richmond on his own.

After the match, Petrie told kangaroos.com.au he was satisfied with his own performance and the collective performance of North's forward line.

"I think we've been the area of our team in the first month that probably hasn't worked as well as the backline and the midfield, so we needed to improve and we did in a lot of areas today," Petrie said.

"It was good to kick some goals today personally. But it's still only one game. I'll start to judge where I'm at in eight weeks time I suppose. The first two games I've played have been pretty lean so I needed to perform."

Petrie was adamant North's winless start to the season had not condemned it to another season in the bottom half of the ladder.

"We've only played four games. There's still a long way to go but we do need to start winning," he said.