He’s been there for 276 of Drew Petrie’s 299 games, and Brent Harvey says he can’t wait until the duo run out as teammates again in Petrie’s 300th on Sunday.
Harvey and Petrie have shared plenty of memories over the journey, including times as housemates, and Harvey told SEN that a lot has changed since those early days.
“He was overweight, had red hair and didn’t look like much of a footballer,” Harvey said of Petrie when he first arrived at Arden St.
“Living with him for two-and-a-half years was outstanding. He was just so respectful.”
The 415-gamer said he never had any doubts Petrie was going to be a star at North.
“The first day he moved in with me, I just knew he was going to be a great player and play a lot of football because of the way he prepared. It was super for a young guy, and it’s great to be playing with him for so long.
“It’s been a huge honour to run out with him that many (276) times. You walk a little bit taller when Drewy’s around you.
“He’s a big game player, we’ll be doing absolutely everything we can to get the job done for the ‘big Dish’.”
With a big milestone ahead and the team sitting atop of the ladder at 6-0, Harvey said the mood around the club was positive, but everyone knew there was still a lot more to work on.
“We are getting the job done without playing amazing football,” Harvey said.
“We had a lot of players down on the night against the Bulldogs. Some of our better players, ‘Goldy’ (Todd Goldstein), ‘Cunners’ (Ben Cunnington), didn’t really have huge games. It’s good to know we’re winning and we’re not relying on Drewy to kick 6, but we’ve got other guys that keep popping up.”
The 37-year-old said he was thrilled to see the club’s younger brigade firing.
“Building a winning culture is very, very hard to do… especially for the young guys now, they are just playing with enormous confidence.
“Those young boys know what’s expected of them and if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain they get put straight back out to the reserves. When you’re winning there’s as much pressure on you as when you’re losing because you need to keep performing.
“We’ve got 22 players that contribute every single week and it’s really pleasing.”
The Roos have the benefit of a nine-day break until they take on the Saints, earning the players a well-deserved extra day off.
But perhaps surprisingly, the extra break didn’t necessarily sit well with the Roos' stalwart.
“On the back of two six day breaks, we probably did (need the break), but I didn’t play too well on the weekend, so I was pretty keen for this week to hurry up.
“When you play a poor game, you just want to get back out there and play footy again.”
