Less than 48 hours after being drafted, Adelaide’s five recruits have arrived in their new adopted home state.
Victorian trio Jordan Gallucci, Myles Poholke and Matt Signorello, Queensland-based key-position prospect Elliott Himmelberg and Maroubra teenager Ben Davis landed in the City of Churches on Sunday afternoon.
Accompanied by members of Adelaide’s recruiting and welfare teams, the quartet was met at the airport by a group of Crows players including captain Taylor Walker.
The draftees will live with teammates for the next month before moving in with host families early next year.
Wingman Paul Seedsman, who relocated from Melbourne to Adelaide himself last November, has opened his doors to the Club’s first-round pick, Gallucci.
After playing host to Tom Doedee last year, defender Kyle Hartigan will help fellow Victorian Signorello with his transition to South Australia. Poholke will have the convenience of only living around the corner from the Club after moving in with rookie Hugh Greenwood.
Himmelberg will have the honour of being the first guest in Sam Jacobs and fiancé Izzy’s brand new house, which the couple moved into only a fortnight ago, while Charlie Cameron will show Ben Davis the ropes.
Cameron, 22, was recruited from Western Australia three years ago and understands the benefits of living with more experienced teammates.
“I stayed with Richard Douglas and Kyle Hartigan for the first couple of weeks when I came over, and then I lived with Eddie,” Cameron said.
“It was a good experience for me to live with players and see how they go about it.
“I had ‘Junior’ (Wayne Milera) stay with me last year … and I got Junior a game! I thought I’d take care of Ben as well and take him under my wing.
“We’ll try and make them (the draftees) feel comfortable. Ben will see what I do before training and with my preparation.
"It’s good experience for me too, I’m looking forward to it.”
Jacobs, who started his career at Carlton, lived with former Blue Jarrad Waite when he first made the move to Melbourne. The ruckman said the existing players would all make a conscious effort to make the recruits feel welcome.
“We’ve got a really strong culture,” Jacobs said.
“They (the draftees) come over to Adelaide and probably haven’t been here much before, so it’s important as players that we get around them.”
Adelaide's draftees will train with their new teammates for the first time on Monday. Once again, afc.com.au will give fans an insight to their transition to the AFL in the 'Recruits' video series.
