2009 season:
After a strong pre-season Jared Petrenko made his AFL debut in round one against Collingwood and impressed many with his performance. He had 15 disposals, four marks and kicked a goal in the narrow win. He went on to play the next seven games, was dropped but regained selection in round 12. He was unable to break back into the side though for the rest of the year but again produced solid performances in the SANFL for the Eagles. Petrenko said his MCG debut is one he will never forget. “It was awesome sharing it with Taylor (Walker) and Myke (Cook),” Petrenko said. “We are pretty close and we were here all last year. It wasn’t all just about myself, it was great to have two of my good mates to share the experience with. Having a win made it a great day.”

David Noble’s 2009 review:
“Jared’s got to focus on being confident that he can play at the level. He fluctuates between thinking, can I play at this level or can’t I? In the times that he’s played in our senior side he showed he can play at the level. He built a really good fitness base last year and he needs to push that up again this year if he’s going to get back into that side. He’s got some skills and some attributes we could use.”

Career:
Selected in the 2007 rookie draft, Petrenko was elevated to the senior list in Round 17 2008 in place of injured ruckman Rhett Biglands. He put an interrupted pre-season behind him to hold down a league spot with the Eagles while coming very close to making his AFL debut. He was named as an emergency on four consecutive occasions and was on the verge of making his Crows debut in round 20. The small defender had a solid season in the SANFL after overcoming an off-season shoulder reconstruction to regain his spot in the Woodville-West Torrens line up, playing in the midfield and in defence and featuring regularly in the best.