“You don’t want to lean on excuses at all, but we were in a big training phase (leading up to games against Carlton and Hawthorn),” Petrie told NMFC.com.au.
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“That’s probably the hardest I’ve trained leading into games. The boys were pretty tired there for a bit but we’re in a phase now where we’re freshening up leading into Round 1.”
The reason for the big summer is simple according to the stand-in captain.
“You have a massive pre-season so it enables you to get through the rigours of the home and away season.
“I suppose the fans would have seen the effects of that a bit through the first two pre-season games.”
Petrie has been through more pre-seasons than anyone on the list except Brent Harvey, so he is in a good position to accurately assess just how tough the summer has been at Arden Street.
“It’s one of the hardest ones I’ve ever done, so I know we’re fit. We’ve got to transfer that to make sure we’re executing our structures and our game plans well.”
Playing Geelong at Simonds Stadium is one of the better tests a side can hope for leading into Round 1.
“We’ve tweaked a few things and we’ll put them into place. They’re a very good outfit and it’s great we get to play them down there.”
In perhaps the most promising news, Petrie is raring to go heading into a season where he should notch up game number 250.
“I’m feeling fresh at the moment so I’m excited for Round 1 and Essendon without looking past Friday night and Geelong."
