Family means a lot to young footballer Josh Rachele, which is why he believes the Adelaide Football Club will be the perfect fit.

The 18-year-old grew up in a large family with Italian and Greek heritage, and one which upholds generations-long traditions.

Speaking to AFC Media after the Crows selected him with Pick No.6 at the AFL National Draft on Thursday night, Rachele said the Club gave off a strong culture.

It was one he could not wait to be part of and embrace as a ‘second family’.

“To see how welcoming the Adelaide Crows are, my family is very comfortable with me heading here,” Rachele said.

“(Family culture is) exactly the feeling and emotions we’ve received from everyone at Adelaide.

“I had a Zoom call with Nicksy (earlier this year) and I had spoken to him through text messages a few times but the first time I met him face to face was last night.

“He’s a great fella, very welcoming, he got along with all my family and I can’t wait to work under him.

“I reckon I got a text from nearly every single player, they've been unreal.”

The small forward/midfielder shared the moment with his grandparents - Nonno Dominque, Yia-yia Elizabeth and Pappous James - together with his parents Michelle and Jason and twin brothers Isaac and Lucas, 15.

“They were all very proud and happy for me and it was good to spend that moment with them,” Rachele said.

“They’ve been massive and very influential over the past few years and I am very grateful for them.

“As soon as the Crows called my name out my brothers were buzzing and they are just keen to get all the merch now and rock that.”

Rachele’s father, who is of Italian heritage, works on the family’s third-generation commercial orchard in Shepparton producing stone fruit and pears with his two brothers, while his mother’s parents are of Greek heritage.

The European traditions embraced by Rachele’s family helped shape him and he’s looking forward to sharing them with his new teammates.

“Every single year we make tomato sauce with all my uncles and cousins,” Rachele said.

“Then we make salami as well - they are the two big traditions that we keep going.

“The sauce days are usually done at my dad’s farm - that’s a ritual that’s been done ever since I can remember.

“The salami days are held at my uncle’s across the road.

“When we were younger on sauce days we used to muck around a lot and sometimes have a bit of a sauce fight which was funny.

“But once we started to get a little bit older it started to sink in and we understood it all and started helping a lot more.

“I’ll definitely bring some of my sauce down for sure.”

Despite playing soccer as a youngster and being involved with Melbourne City’s Academy, a footy was never far from his hands.

“At my dad’s farm we have about 300-400 acres and up the road we have a footy oval, so we like to jump on the motorbikes and go have a kick down there,” Rachele said.

“We used to play marks up with our cousins and it would end up being a five v five or the oldest boys versus the younger boys.”

The Shepparton Swans and Murray Bushrangers product is set to arrive at West Lakes on Sunday.

Rachele, who booted 11 goals in four games for the Bushrangers and averaged 18.5 disposals, 6.3 marks and 3.8 tackles, was keen to get over to Adelaide and get stuck into pre-season.

He was also looking forward to reuniting with former Bushrangers teammate Sam Berry as well as ex-Vic Country players Jordon Butts and Patrick Parnell.

“I think I can bring that spark and excitement to the Crows but there’s a long way to go yet,” Rachele said.

“I just want to earn the respect of my teammates, get settled as quickly as possible, show my strengths and get to know the boys on a better level.”