The North Melbourne players are set to enjoy a well-earned extended break over the bye round, with Arden Street’s football department vacated for the next four days.

It’s the first extended break of the season for the Kangaroos. It’s also a process every club must adhere to, as Drew Petrie explained on the AFL Exchange podcast..

“Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement there are two byes this year. So it’s written in that every player around their bye has to receive four days of leave with no club commitments at all,” he said.

PRESS PLAY above to listen to Petrie.

With a list put together from different parts of Australia and indeed the world, the players will disperse in different directions during their time off.
“Of the 45 guys on our list about half aren’t from Melbourne. Guys will be going home mainly,” Petrie said.

“We’ve got a few boys going to Adelaide. One of our young blokes is having his 21st over there and a couple of the boys are going over to celebrate. I got an invite which I was very happy to receive but I knocked it back.

“There’s a few going to Byron Bay, which I wouldn’t mind getting down to at some stage.

“A few are heading down to Tasmania to do some fishing. It would be cold but it would be relaxing.”

However it’s not all about relaxation. All players will still have a training program to follow to ensure they return at 100 per cent.

“It’s not a super rigid program but every player will have some sort of physical activity, whether that be a run, a swim or a spin bike session.

“It’ll be for an hour on the Friday or the Saturday and that’ll be the only training commitment for those four days off.”