DREW Petrie would love to have captained North Melbourne but, at 29, accepts the honour has almost certainly passed him by.
Speaking on Tuesday ahead of his 200th game, against Essendon this Saturday night, Petrie suggested he had put his hand up for the captaincy when it became clear the club was considering appointing a successor to Brent Harvey.
"I would have loved the opportunity to captain the footy club," Petrie said at Aegis Park.
"... It would have been great to have followed Brent Harvey and Adam Simpson before him, but it wasn't the case."
Any disappointment Petrie experienced when Andrew Swallow was named the Kangaroos' new skipper in February was short-lived. Having been re-appointed vice-captain in conjunction with emerging leader Jack Ziebell, Petrie has revelled in watching Swallow throw himself into the Kangaroos' top on-field job.
"(I was) very excited for him, I really was," Petrie said of Swallow.
"Ever since he's taken over, he's [been] bouncing around the footy club and he's pretty excited to be in the position. And I'm just there as a support mechanism for him, just to try and help him when he needs help.
"So it's been a very smooth transition. The club did their due diligence and it was a lengthy process and they made sure they got the right guy - (and) I can tell you they certainly did."
After winning All Australian selection for the first time in his career last season, Petrie is confident he's over the chronic foot problems that limited him to just two games in 2010, saying he hopes to play for at least another three years.
"I'm 29 so I'm still young. I'm not at that dreaded 30 yet," he said.
"But I'm contracted for this year and next year (and) certainly hoping to be able to play one more after that. And then I guess you assess from there, but at any stage it can end very quickly so you certainly make the most of every opportunity."
Petrie is also very content in the key forward role he assumed when Brad Scott took over as North coach in 2010. Prior to that, he played everywhere from attack, to the ruck, to defence and even on a wing.
Asked whether he was a chance to cover for injured key defenders Lachlan Hansen and Nathan Grima in this Saturday night's game, Petrie shot the idea down very quickly.
However, he is looking forward to working alongside ruckmen Hamish McIntosh and Todd Goldstein, who are likely to rotate heavily through North's forward line in 2012.
"Those two guys up and about will be a great ruck duo for us," Petrie said.
Petrie is also looking forward to the impending birth of his second child, who is due in two weeks. But he has already made a significant decision - if the birth clashes with a North game, he will play.
It is a decision his wife, Nicole, is happy with, Petrie says.
"If it was our first child we agreed that I'd miss the game, but lucky we had (son Jack) in October in the off-season."
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