Adelaide recruit Izak Rankine says donning the Crows guernsey at Adelaide Oval in a competitive AFL match is a moment he's been waiting for.
That moment is set to arrive this weekend when Adelaide hosts Richmond in its first home game of this season.
It will, however, be extra special for Rankine, who will also notch his 50th AFL game.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Rankine said he was excited to reach the milestone at Adelaide Oval.
“It is pretty exciting obviously, to get to 50 games,” Rankine said.
“I missed a couple of games early on in my career, so it’s exciting to have my 50th game here at Adelaide Oval in front of my family and friends.
“I guess straight after the GWS game I was already thinking about next week against Richmond at home and I’ve been kind of waiting for this moment to come.
“I can’t really express how keen I am to run out there with the fans cheering because I remember as a kid going to Footy Park, watching footy and the aura and everyone just so up and about.”
Rankine joined the Crows during the off-season after spending four years Gold Coast, where he played 48 games and kicked 57 goals.
He said being surrounded by friends and family made settling back into life in South Australia easy.
“It’s pretty different to the Gold Coast,” he said.
“It definitely has been easy to settle back in, just having my brothers and my sisters and my family and friends to share moments with like coming to training, watching training, watching you play in trial matches.
“I think it was good to get away for a few years and grow up, get my independence and figure out life on my own living up on the coast, but I thought it was time to come home and I am really comfortable with that decision.
“People say there’s the pressure that comes with coming back home with having more eyes on you, but I guess that has brought the best out of myself to be able to lock in and really prove people wrong.”
Rankine made his debut for Adelaide in the Round One loss to GWS and had a solid first outing, kicking 2.5, to go with 18 disposals and six marks.
Despite the loss, the opportunity to put on the Crows jumper for the first time was not lost on Rankine.
“It was surreal, having my mum and dad in there presenting me my guernsey,” Rankine said.
“It is a lot different to the trial matches we just played, to actually put it on for Round One, it just had a different feeling.
“It was all those memories and flashbacks to watching the Crows as a kid.”
The Crows enjoyed a strong first half against the Giants but were unable to sustain the form, and went down by 16 points.
The 22-year-old said putting together a strong, four-quarter performance against the Tigers was a focus.
“As a club it showed what we can do in the first half and then we fell away in the second half,” Rankine said.
“Our goal this week is just to play the four quarters and hopefully get the four points."
Adelaide plays Richmond at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, with the first bounce at 4.05pm
