When Daniel Wells was sitting on the exercise bike with a corked quad in the dying minutes of Drew Petrie's 300th game last week, he knew the game was spiralling out of control.

With St Kilda on the surge and threatening to rip the game away from the Roos, he willed himself back into the contest.

While he won't be able to play this week against Essendon as a result, he told The Herald Sun that the right decision was made to go back on.

“I’ve got no regrets,” Wells said.

“I copped a really bad cork in the left quad in the third quarter and the (medicos) told me to stay on the bike the whole time.

“Sitting back on the bike, you can see the game unfold. You are thinking about Drewie’s 300th game, and it was such a tight match. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to come back on, but I was lucky enough to do it and make an impact.”

Wells' impact on the match in the final minutes was defining. He laid a game-saving smother, put in a hard tackle and managed to scrub the footy forward after winning a hotly contested ball.

“We were all going to work as hard as we could as a team for Drewie,” he said.

“He is the ultimate team player.

“He has done so much for us and contributed so much to the team over the years.

“To get the victory for him and for the team, that’s something we had to work so hard for because the Saints are a very good young side. He will be able to look back and say we got a win in his 300th game.”

Wells is confident he will be fit to play against Carlton in Round 9.

There'll be added motivation to be up and running again too - with Indigenous Round just around the corner.

Wells showed off North's third indigenous jumper called "Bloodline" this week along with teammates Lindsay Thomas and Jed Anderson. Designed by brilliant artist Sarrita King and her sister Tarisse, the design incorporates the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islands flags.

“Sarrita and her sister have done a great job with it,” Wells said.

“It was Lindsay’s idea to get the two flags on the front. We’re really happy with the jumper.”

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