Recently re-signed draftee Andrew McPherson will be striving to earn the respect of his teammates when he plays his first game for the Club on Saturday afternoon.

McPherson signed a two-year contract extension on Friday ahead of his SANFL Crows debut against his old side, Woodville-West Torrens.

While missing a large chunk of the season has been disappointing for McPherson, he is planning on making the most of the second half of the year.

“It’s not ideal coming to a club in your first year and not being able to play a lot of footy,” McPherson said.

“It was a tough couple of months, but now that I have got the body right, it’s a great opportunity to try and get a bit of footy under the belt and have a good crack at the back half of this season.”

McPherson has felt right at home at West Lakes since being selected in the second round of the 2017 AFL draft, despite spending much of his time in the rehab group.

The 18-year-old is champing at the bit to pull on the tricolours for the first time.

“The guys here have been unbelievable, they are a great bunch of guys,” he said.

“They’ve made me feel really welcome and made coming to the club enjoyable even though there were some tough days with the rehab.

“It’s been a long time since I played a game of footy, so I’m just really excited to get out there with the boys and have a real red-hot crack. The nerves haven’t quite hit yet, it’s more just excitement at the moment.”

McPherson will be familiar with this weekend’s opponent, having switched over to Woodville-West Torrens at the start of his last year of SANFL Under 16s footy.

Playing against his old side makes his first Crows game even more exciting, and McPherson believes it will be a physical contest.

“I think playing against the Eagles just adds a bit more to the experience on the weekend. It’ll be good fun and I’m sure there will be a few boys chirping up a little bit,” he said.

“There could be a couple of wildcards in there, it might be a bit physical, a bit taxing on the body but I will embrace that challenge.”

Adelaide‘s match with the Eagles gets underway at 2.40pm at Maughan Thiem Hyundai Oval on Saturday.

The game will be broadcast live on Channel 7 Adelaide from 2.30pm.