Jared Petrenko spoke to the media after training on Tuesday.

Here’s an overview of what he had to say …

Jared Petrenko on looking ahead to Saturday night’s NAB Cup clash with the Brisbane Lions in Alice Springs …

“I know we’ll rest some blokes, but I haven’t heard who yet. I’m sure whoever comes into the team will grab the opportunity with both hands and hopefully we have another performance like we did on the weekend.”

On whether he’ll be rested …

“Personally, I don’t want to be rested. I’ve missed a lot of footy over the years with injury. If blokes need to be rested that’s up to the coaches and players themselves, but I don’t ever want to be rested, really. “

On whether Jason Porplyzia will play his first game for the season against the Lions …

“Hopefully, he will. ‘Porps’ trained yesterday and again today. From day one of the pre-season, he’s been bursting out of his skin. All last year, it would’ve killed him to see us play like we did and not being able to get out there with us. We’re all looking forward to seeing him rip up.”

On the first hit-out under new coach Brenton Sanderson …

“It was good. The weather changed it a bit. We had to kick it long as much as possible and just get it forward. There was a good vibe around the Club and everyone enjoyed it. ‘Sando’ speaks well and knows what he wants from us. We know what we want to do now as well, so we’re all looking forward to the season ahead under him.”

On his role in the team …

“I had a meeting with ‘Sando’ pre-Christmas about how I was going and where he sees me. I’ve got things to work on as everyone does. Ever since I’ve been at the Club, I’ve never been the best runner fitness-wise, so that’s the main thing I want to work on and the way I train is another thing. ‘Sando’ and a lot of other coaches at the Club have said I’m getting better at that every year. I’m learning from the older players about those things and hopefully if I keep working on them I’ll become a better player as a result.

“In the first couple of years, I thought ‘I’m not really fit enough to play in the midfield’ but every now and then ‘Craigy’ (Neil Craig) would chuck me in there and I’d do alright. I had a couple of meetings with the midfield group and it sort of went from there.

“I was hoping to play more midfield this season anyway (regardless of coach), but that’s probably been confirmed. I’ve got a bit more freedom to do that and I’m really looking forward to being in there more. I’d like to say I can play midfield. I played a little bit through there last year and played all my junior footy in the midfield. Hopefully, I can get in there as much as I can and show what I can do in there. My versatility is definitely a positive and a strength. I can put my hand up to play anywhere, which always helps.”

 On whether Brad Crouch will play against the Lions …

“I’m not sure yet. Hopefully, he does. He’s a great fella and showed some brilliant signs over the pre-season. We’re all looking forward to hopefully seeing him get a go this week. Who knows what’s going to happen. Our depth goes right back this year. I think ‘Truck’ (Ben Rutten) is the only one on the rehab list at the moment. Competition for spots is huge. To have the 30^th player on your list onwards pushing to be selected can only be healthy for us. I’m pretty excited about our future in the next couple of years because they’ve all showed they can train to the level. Hopefully, they’re able to play at the level.

On whether the Club’s focus for the NAB Cup has changed after two early wins …

“We’re just looking forward to this week. We’ve got a lot of young players who just want to play well this week and hopefully put their hand up (for the rest of the NAB Cup). We had a couple of good wins on the weekend but we’re not going to get too far ahead of ourselves. We’ve got Brisbane this week and then Collingwood the week after. We’re really just worrying about this week.”

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