Drew Petrie says the West Coast Eagles Football Club is hardly full of the ‘rock stars’ he expected to encounter when he arrived in Perth late last year.

Petrie told Ballarat-based radio broadcaster Voice FM he felt very much at home at the football club and was building strong relationships with his teammates in spite of not being able to take the field with them due to his hand injury.

“I assumed that West Coast would be the rock stars of the competition because here in Perth they are put on a bit of a pedestal a lot, the West Coast boys,” he said.

“There is a bit of a difference there, but the club is run by good people and good characters.

“The players are grounded; it’s just a really good bunch of men playing footy. You’ve got all sorts of characters and personalities within a footy club and the club is really engaging with the community and its supporters.

“North Melbourne’s culture was always spoken of really highly about the grounded, down to earth people. It was a club that really engaged with the community and engaged with supporters. And coming over here, I’ve found that West Coast are exactly the same.”

Petrie has been assisting several of the club’s community endeavours since landing in the Eagles’ nest, most notably its Next Generation Academy program.  

The Next Generation Academy was developed in conjunction with the West Australian Football Commission to offer a high performance football talent program for emerging players from diverse backgrounds.

The Next Generation Academy provides a pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island players from the Pilbara region, as well as players from multicultural backgrounds who are based at designated zones across regional WA.

Petrie accepted a position as the academy’s high performance coach at the beginning of the year.

Academy head coach Adam Selwood said Petrie would help the academy’s most gifted athletes fulfil their potential by coordinating specialised training sessions and professional standards seminars to prepare them for life in the AFL.

“The role came about because Drew is thinking post football and where he wants to position himself,” Selwood said.

“He’s got a keen interest in administration and coaching as well, so this is a really good fit for him. He’s a player of 16 years’ experience, has more than 300 AFL games to his name and will be fantastic for our program and the kids to learn off. Instead of just getting him involved in the program, we thought he should have ownership of a certain part of it, and that is going to be the Naitanui Academy kids. They are the top end talent on WAFL lists who are indigenous from the Pilbara or multicultural. They’re potential draft prospects for us.”

Petrie said he was thrilled to take on the role as he sought to ensure the development of the game’s future indigenous and multicultural stars – and shore up his life after football.

“Adam has been kind and trusting enough to allow me to help him with the Naitanui Academy kids, who will do some training sessions here at West Coast throughout the season,” he said.

“I’m going to help out with the logistics of organising training sessions, informing the kids where they have to be and, of course, coordinating training sessions. It’s an exciting time for me and the Next Generation Academy”