Whilst Sam Jacobs may be the undisputed number one ruckman at the Crows at the moment, a qualified candidate waits in the wings should ‘Sauce’ go down with injury.

That candidate comes in the form of second-year Crow Reilly O’Brien, who is having a strong year in the SANFL and has established himself as to the go to big-man for Adelaide's SANFL side.

Selected with Adelaide’s first pick in the 2015 Rookie Draft, the 20 year-old has come on leaps and bounds since joining the Crows and O’Brien told The Crows Show he feels ready for AFL action.

“Obviously I don’t want Sam [Jacobs] to go down [injured], he’s a great player but I’m always there to be ready if that does happen”, O’Brien said.

“I’m just trying to play the best footy I can, obviously it’s hard to break into the team at the moment, I’m just trying to play the best SANFL footy I can and always be ready if that day did come.”

O’Brien credits his readiness for AFL to increased minutes at SANFL level and says the exposure to senior football has helped him develop rapidly as a player.

“As soon as I played senior footy I think I enjoyed that and played a bit better than in my juniors just because I enjoy the contest a bit more,” O’Brien said.

“In senior footy there’s a lot more of the contest and the physical stuff and I enjoy that and thrive on that.”

O’Brien is averaging an impressive 26 hit-outs and 14 possessions across 10 games this year.

The quality of coaching staff and mentors around the Club has also been a big influence on O’Brien with colleague Sam Jacobs and ruck coach Matthew Clarke providing great guidance.

“’Doc’ Clarke’s awesome, he’s awesome as a coach. Sam’s also a great mentor, as a player he’s obviously been around the system for years, knows the game inside out and is a great ruckman,” he said.

“Going up against him is a bit of a challenge at training sometimes but it’s a good experience.”

 O’Brien is currently on the rookie list and would need to be promoted to the senior list before making an AFL debut.