North Melbourne forward Drew Petrie says he was always confident the shocking run of injury he had two years ago would not end his AFL career.

Petrie will play his 200th senior game on Saturday night when the Kangaroos open their season against fierce rivals Essendon at Etihad Stadium.

Petrie barely played at all in 2010 because he suffered a broken foot three times.

But he said the North Melbourne medical staff assured him he would recover from those setbacks.

Petrie returned to top form last year and led North Melbourne’s goalkicking as they just failed to make the finals.

Petrie said fitness and ball use had been key elements of North’s pre-season as they try to break into the top eight and improve their poor record against top-four teams.