As far as timing goes, Drew Petrie couldn't have planned it better. The North forward penned a column for The Age about his goal kicking counterpart, Jarrad Waite, on the eve of their Round 2 match against the Lions.

Waite had a day out with a best on ground performance, with just about everything going to Petrie's script.

In case you missed it, here's what he wrote.

I sat in the team dining room back at the hotel and couldn't even contemplate eating. I felt sick to my stomach with bitter disappointment and that's not good for the appetite. We'd just endured a humiliating, 71-point loss to the Swans at ANZ Stadium in the 2014 preliminary final and the jeers of the Sydney crowd were still ringing in my ears.

I got up from the table and found my good mate Brent Harvey who was staring at his plate – no doubt feeling the same way. Boomer hates losing more than anyone I know, so I found some comfort in his grief. We shared our thoughts on what went wrong and why.

After a brief discussion, we were interrupted by our list manager, Cameron Joyce, who was already trying to determine what he could do to improve our situation for next season and beyond. That's when he revealed to Boomer and me that we were going hard after Carlton free agent Jarrad Waite.

There had been widespread speculation in the media about North's interest in Waitey so it wasn't the first time I'd considered playing alongside him in the forward line, but it was the first time I'd had it confirmed officially.

My opinion of Waitey was pretty high at that stage but there were two very different recollections I had of him; one was a highlight and the other, not so high. In my mind, Waitey was as potent as any forward in the game when he was "on".

I cast my mind back to round 11, 2013 when we were on the Gold Coast. It was Friday night and we were playing the Suns the next day. I was in my hotel room watching the Blues take on the Bombers and Waitey was unstoppable booting seven goals and ripping down an incredible 14 marks.

The other memory was earlier that year, he'd been rubbed out for headbutting Melbourne's Tom McDonald and Carlton took the unusual step of fining him as well. It was clear to me that Waitey was an unbelievable asset up forward, but his passion and competitiveness would often land him in hot water. The positives far outweighed any negatives in my mind.

Joycey wanted my opinion on us picking up Waite and I told him I was all for it. The potential to have a key forward of his ability roaming around in front of goals excited me. I knew we could really test opposition defenders if we worked together in the royal blue and white. I also felt the North culture could help Waitey iron out his occasional disciplinary lapses and backed our medical team to get his body in top shape – something he'd also struggled with during his time with the Blues.

In Waitey's second game as a Kangaroo, I had a front-row seat to an incredible performance. Like that game against the Bombers in 2013, he put on a show with seven goals and 12 marks to go along with 22 touches against the Lions at Etihad. I booted two goals in that game but was very much the support act, which suited me just fine.

Brad Scott had worked closely with Waitey throughout the pre-season and tried to redefine his role as a forward and improve his all-round game. What impressed me the most was Waitey's willingness to learn and adapt after 14 years in the AFL system. His coachability was first class and he accepted the challenge to change the way he played head-on.

Brad wanted him to retain his attacking style, but encouraged him to add a more defensive element to his armoury. Tackling and pressure were the areas he'd be judged on at North, not so much his goals and marks.

Waitey put in an enormous amount of time with our strength and conditioning staff and adopted a new approach in the gym, too. Our guys had identified some areas he could improve that would give him the durability he'd lacked in previous seasons. He followed the new regime to the letter and the results speak for themselves. In 2015 at the age of 32, he played more games in a season than ever before with 23. His previous best was 22 games in 2007.

Many criticised North's decision to secure Waite but they've been forced to eat humble pie. While he may be an easy going, laid-back, approachable and down-to-earth bloke off the field, his desire to win, passion and competitiveness on it is almost unmatched. There's no doubt he's helped add a new dimension to our side and I love running out with him every week.

While we weren't able to surpass our preliminary final mark last year, we were in a much better position to go one further with the likes of Waitey in the side. From day one, his transition to our way of doing things was seamless and he's already adopted so many traits we attribute to being a true Shinboner.