Adelaide’s routine win over Gold Coast will be easily forgotten in years to come, but the game will be remembered as the turning point in Wayne Milera Junior’s career.
Having shown patches of brilliance in his previous 28 games, the 11th overall pick of the 2015 NAB AFL Draft put it all together with a career-best performance in the Crows' 48-point victory at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Milera was sensational in his new role across half-back, racking up a career-high 33 disposals at 84.8 per cent efficiency.
Crows teammate Rory Atkins told AFL.com.au they wanted to bring the 20-year-old into the game as much as possible.
"He uses the ball really well and we want the ball in his hands because he's a smooth mover and finds a target," Atkins said.
"For a young fella, he's very composed with the ball.
"He's a great young player."
Milera spent his first two seasons at the Crows on the wing and across half-forward.
But after defender Brodie Smith tore his ACL in the Crows' qualifying final against Greater Western Sydney last year, he was earmarked to fill Smith's spot across half-back.
"In my exit meeting last year, (Crows coach Don Pyke) and a couple of the other coaches said with Smithy out most of next year, we want to trial you down back," Milera told AFC.com.au.
"The defence group have been good to me over the summer.
"I played a game in defence at the under-18 national championships, so I had very little experience back there, but I'm finding it good."
Milera had an interrupted start to this season, knee tendinitis forcing him to miss the JLT Community Series and the round one clash with Essendon.
When he did return to the side, Milera played across half-forward and the wing for three weeks before moving to defence in the past two games.
"He found his feet there (on Saturday night) and it was a solid performance from Wayne," Crows coach Don Pyke said.
"He's got great running capacity, he's a good user of the footy and has some good lateral movement, so we felt those attributes were potentially going to work for us off half-back.
"Defensively, he's really solid and gives us that run and bounce, which we saw (on Saturday night)."
The future is bright for Milera.
Last year, the Crows re-signed the Ingle Farm product until the end of 2020 in the knowledge he would be able to become more consistent with his performances.
"I tend to come in and out of games," Milera said.
"I have quarters where I'm good, then I go quiet for a bit.
"That's something I've been working on since I've been at the club."
