When Adelaide’s 2021 AFL season came to an end, forward Riley Thilthorpe “ran himself into the ground”.

It was his first off-season and, by his own admission, Thilthorpe thought the only way to improve was to go hard.

Fast forward to now, and the young forward says he is in a much better place both physically and mentally, as he looks towards kicking off his third AFL season with the Crows in 2023.

“I had a decent first year but really wanted to build on that and ended up hurting myself in the long run,” Thilthorpe said.

“It was my first off-season, so I didn’t really know what to expect but I’ve learnt so much from that off-season and I’m really grateful I went through that.

“Now I know a lot more about my body and where I’m at, so I wouldn’t change anything.

“(This year) I was just smarter with how I planned the off-season with the running and all that and I didn’t really work myself into the ground as much, so the body is in a much better place.”

Thilthorpe, who featured in 11 AFL games this past season after contending with injuries to his knee and ankle, said he was confident the struggles were behind him.

“It (2022 season) was very up and down and I learnt a lot from it,” Thilthorpe said.

“I obviously would’ve loved to play a full year of AFL but I definitely got a lot of learnings from it.

“I haven’t missed a training yet…  I’m excited for next year.”

The youngster said the Crows’ forward line, which now included former Gold Coast goal sneak Izak Rankine, was exciting to be part of.

“Ranks is going to be a huge addition, I am really excited to be working with those boys and hopefully we can scare a few teams out there,” Thilthorpe said.

“He’s (Rankine) unbelievably talented… he’s got a big bag of tricks, he’s lightning fast but even the defensive stuff has been what’s really stood out to a lot of us.

“There’s been a couple of rundown tackles (at training) and the pressure he’s putting on is going to make our forward line more dynamic.”