“I was relieved and excited,” Pedersen said.
“At the start of the year I probably didn’t expect it (a new contract) to happen but now that I have been able to string a few games together, it was just great news. It gives me a little bit of security going forward which is nice.”
The 24-year old debuted in round one against the Eagles and made headlines after playing well despite being out of position in the ruck against All-Australian Dean Cox.
“Since being at North, I’ve loved every minute. There’s a great group of guys here and the coaches and other support staff have been amazing. It’s very family orientated here which is great for me and Sarah with our young daughter Charlee.”
With such a young family, Pedersen struggled to make ends meet on a rookie wage and went to work at Bunnings at night to alleviate the stress on his hip pocket. It wasn’t until North Melbourne coaching staff noticed the 193 centimetre utility falling asleep at meetings, that he had to confess about his second job.
"It just goes to show how committed he is to an AFL career and his family, but when he began to look like he was about to fall asleep in (coach Brad Scott's) meetings we began to ask, 'What's going on?'," chief of football Donald McDonald told the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark earlier this year.
"Cameron didn't tell anyone at the start…but it is one of those ones where, as a mature-age rookie, it is a big commitment to become an AFL player, because he may have been earning more money playing VFL for Box Hill and working full-time."
"It was pretty difficult, I was getting tired," Pedersen told Clark.
"A lot of 18-year-olds or 19-year-olds are probably happy enough on the rookie wage, but I had a mortgage to pay and a family. Because I'd come from working 50 hours a week and playing at Box Hill plus doing uni last year, I was just used to doing long hours."
Now, the club has employed Pedersen in a part-time teaching role in its community classroom 'The Huddle' and he’s putting his teaching studies and degree in exercise science to good use.
The club is expected to lodge official paperwork with the AFL in the coming days and intends to permanently upgrade Pedersen to the senior list for 2012.
