The 20-year-old forward and ruckman was one of Adelaide’s best players in Saturday night’s 20-point win over Hawthorn, collecting 15 possessions, eight marks (four contested), 13 hit-outs and also kicking his first goal for the Crows.
McKernan, drafted at the end of 2008, made his AFL debut against Richmond in round 14 of the 2009 season but broke an arm at training the next week and missed the rest of the season.
Then, in 2010, he played all season in the SANFL for South Adelaide but could not quite break back into the Crows line-up, despite being named as an emergency six times.
“At the end of last year I probably had to reassess where I was at,” McKernan told Channel Crow after Saturday’s round one game. “I put in a lot of hard work over the pre-season and it was great to get selected for round one and to be part of the win.
“It was amazing, the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of, I can’t describe the crowd. For the boys to get up, especially on a big occasion like this, it’s unbelievable.”
Channel Crow also interviewed Andy Otten, who played his first game for premiership points since the 2009 finals series, first-gamer Brodie Smith and first-time captain Nathan van Berlo.
Watch the video at the top of this page or on the Club’s YouTube channel.
