DREW Petrie has rejected talk he could retire at the end of 2015, with the North Melbourne forward saying he has no plans to hang up the boots.
Petrie turned 32 last October and comes out of contract at the end of this year, but with the Kangaroos pushing for a premiership the 269-game veteran said he's going nowhere.
"It's certainly not my last year," Petrie told AFL.com.au.
"It's funny, as soon as you get to about 29 everyone starts saying 'Oh, you're nearly 30' and 30 for some reason is this age that everyone gets scared of and starts to write players off.
"Sometimes you can get caught up in believing some of that talk, but no I'm honestly taking it week-by-week at the moment and if I'm not of any value to the side at the end of the year well then that's up to the coaches to decide on.
"But for the moment I'm just going to play my best footy and hopefully help the side make another finals campaign."
Petrie's form showed no signs of dropping off last season, when he played all 25 of North's games and booted 50 goals – which included nine majors in a September campaign that answered critics of his finals performances.
But it's been a frustrating summer for the star 197cm big man, who only recently returned to game-sense training after post-season ankle surgery.
"It's a case at the moment of me asking to do more and them just holding me back a little bit," Petrie said.
"It feels really good and I feel capable of training every single session at the moment.
"It's been very different (to previous pre-seasons) but I trained really well last week and the fitness felt good.
"I felt quite sluggish in the first couple of sessions back but last week I felt great."
Petrie is confident he will be fit to feature in North Melbourne's NAB Challenge campaign, starting against Adelaide at Port Lincoln on March 1.
