Jared Petrenko Biography

Jared Petrenko hopes his unexpected audition as a top-up player with Essendon in the NAB Challenge will reignite his AFL career.

"Probably the biggest thing I want to get out of it is a bit of self-belief. I've done a full pre-season and I've probably only done one pre-season in the past four or five years. My body's feeling great and I think (the opportunity) has come at the right time," Petrenko said.

"Hopefully I can prove to myself, and hopefully prove to other people, that I can still play at the level."

A phone call from St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has helped calm Jared Petrenko's mind ahead of his training stint with the club.

"He said he really likes the way I play and just not to put too much pressure on myself when I go and train there," Petrenko said.

"It was really good to get the call from him, and I'm probably not as nervous now as I originally was, thanks to that phone call."

Jared Petrenko says he was stunned by Adelaide's decision to delist him.

Under the impression that his future at Adelaide was secure, Jared Petrenko was summoned by new coach Phil Walsh and head of football David Noble last Friday expecting a casual meet and greet.

The meeting lasted just a few minutes and Petrenko left it unemployed.

"I was in the meeting for about two minutes … I was describing it to the boys on the weekend at [David Mackay's] wedding, I was saying I went in there to touch gloves with Phil and he ended up giving me the one-two straight in the guts," Petrenko said.

"It was pretty brutal and I understand that – I hold nothing against Phil or David Noble at all – that's the industry we're in."

Despite his axing, Petrenko remain upbeat about his future.

"You can look at it in two different ways: it's the end or it's a new beginning," he said.

"I played my best footy in 2012 and it's no surprise that it came off a pretty full pre-season; I felt as fit as I had ever been, as strong as I had ever been.

"I want to get back to that sort of shape, if not better … I'm pretty excited to see what I can get out of myself over the next couple of months.

"I'm really hungry to stay in the system."

Jared Petrenko flirted with the idea of following Geelong star Steven Motlop to London for knee surgery this pre-season, but instead opted for what he hopes will be a long-term fix.

Petrenko's knee tendonitis has meant a strictly monitored training load for the 24-year-old through every pre-season he has done.

Identified by coach Brenton Sanderson as the type of high-intensity player who might feel the pinch of the incoming interchange cap more than others, Petrenko finds himself in a catch-22 situation.

He's well aware of the need to improve his fitness to remain on the ground for longer, but increasing the kilometres he puts through his legs at training also increases the risk of inflaming the tendonitis.

"I spoke to a specialist and she said that my calves would stop working five minutes into a game…[so] my knees were taking the full brunt of an AFL game and they're not designed to do that," Petrenko said.

"Stevie Motlop's gone over to London to have surgery for [tendonitis]. We did talk about that but we wanted to see how my knees would react to the leg strengthening program that I had and they've actually reacted really well.

"I don't think the surgery really fixes the tendon…it's actually just for the pain side of things.

"I wouldn't mind something like that but I think it's a 12-week recovery. I need all the training I can get."

Jared Petrenko says an interchange cap may threaten the careers of players who play with high intensity such as himself.

"I think it'd a bit odd considering they say they'd like to quicken the game up, then they're saying they want to slow it down - it's all a bit confusing to me," Petrenko said.

"Players like Cyril Rioli and Lewis Jetta, the players that people go and watch footy to see, it might limit their impact and the excitement they bring to this game.

"Hopefully the cap isn't too low because players like myself will definitely struggle with it."

Jared Petrenko declares himself fit to take on Hawthorn in Saturday's preliminary final.

"Thanks for all the tweets this week! Sorry I couldn't confirm earlier but now I just can't wait to run onto the G with 21 of me best mates," Petrenko tweeted.

Fremantle's Alex Silvagni will miss the opening of the 2013 season after pleading guilty to head-butting Adelaide forward Jared Petrenko during Fremantle's semi final against the Crows.

Jared Petrenko hyperextends his right shoulder just before the final siren during the Crows' semi final victory over Fremantle.

Despite a shoulder dislocation, Jared Petrenko is an outside chance to face Hawthorn in the preliminary final.

"He's a tough hombre, Pup. We rely on his defensive pressure up forward and if he doesn't play this week he's going to be sorely missed," teammate Brent Reilly said.

"With shoulders, you could play with shoulders, so hopefully Pup does everything right and is up for selection this week."

Adelaide's Jared Petrenko and Brodie Smith have signed contract extensions with the Crows.

"We have a good, core group of young players, who we believe will take the club forward, and Jared and Brodie are a big part of that," Adelaide's general manager of football operations Phil Harper said.

"As a team, we've made a positive start to the year and Jared and Brodie have both showed signs they are ready to have strong seasons."

Jared Petrenko says new coach Brenton Sanderson has agreed to play him more in the midfield this year.

"I played a little bit through there last year and played all my junior footy there, so hopefully I can get in there as much as I can and show what I can do," Petrenko said.

"He (Sanderson) said, and a lot of the other coaches have said, that I'm getting better at that every year that I'm here and I'm learning from the older players about those things."

Jared Petrenko says a change in mindset has coincided with his improved form this year.

"The coaches at the club always told me that I was obviously good enough and that's why you're here, but I just had to put it into practice," Petrenko said.

"I really look forward to playing the next week now, whereas, to start of with I'd be nervous about how I was going to go the following week and [thought] if I played badly I'd probably be out of the team. Now, I just can't wait to play and I'm really enjoying it."

Promising 20-year-old pair Rory Sloane and Jared Petrenko agree to new deals with Adelaide.

"Rory and Jared were keen to recommit as they see a bright future with their mates here at West Lakes. We remain in discussion with several other players and their managers and will advise when any of these negotiations are finalised," football manager Phil Harper said.

Jared Petrenko's season is over after the Crows small forward broke his foot playing in the SANFL.

Jared Petrenko made a dream start to his AFL career with a solid performance against Collingwood at the MCG.