New Crows rookie Reilly O’Brien will see some familiar faces when he arrives at the Club this week.

O’Brien, 19, is a product of TAC Cup team, Calder Cannons, where he played alongside Adelaide’s first-round draft pick, Jake Lever, as well as third-year Crow, Rory Atkins.

“I’m good friends with Jake (Lever) and I’m mates with Rory Atkins as well because I played with him in my bottom-age year at Calder,” O’Brien told afc.com.au.

“It will certainly be easier coming to a new club already knowing a couple of the boys.”

O’Brien was home alone when he saw his name pop up online in Wednesday’s Rookie Draft.

The Crows selected the 201cm, 98kg, tall with their first pick (No.9) to help bolster their ruck stocks.

O’Brien said he’d tried to keep the morning as “low-key” as possible.

“I was playing it down a bit. I woke up about 10:30am, not long before it started. I knew there was a little bit of interest, but I was never really sure. I just had my fingers crossed and was hoping for my name to get read out,” he said.

“I was at home alone because the rest of my family was at work. When my name popped up on the screen, I went nuts and was running around the house by myself. A couple of mates came over not long after to congratulate me.”

This was O’Brien’s second draft, having been overlooked as an 18-year-old in 2013.

The St Kevin’s College graduate played a lot of school football last year as he focused on his Year 12 studies. The plan paid off when he achieved a tertiary entrance score of 99.75 and was accepted into a Biomedicine course at University. O’Brien opted against studying medicine to give himself more time for footy this year.

“I was thinking about doing undergraduate medicine, but that was a bit too full on with footy. Biomedicine was three or four days a week, so I was able to manage it with my footy,” he said.

“You can always do that (study and work) later in life. Footy is only now and it’s what I like doing the most … when I’m at footy, I just love every minute of it.”

Another year in the Calder Cannons system allowed O’Brien to develop other areas of his game.

O’Brien was one of three ruck options, including No.8 draft pick Peter Wright, at Calder, meaning he had to try his hand in different positions.

O’Brien lined up on Collingwood father-son pick, Darcy Moore, in the TAC Cup Grand Final before moving into the ruck in the last quarter, and also had roles on fancied West Coast recruit, Tom Lamb, and Richmond forward Reece McKenzie.

“I played a variety of positions this year, in the ruck and down back as well. I added a few more strings to my bow and worked hard on every single aspect of my game,” O’Brien said.

“I played a lot of school footy last year. This year, with a full season at Calder I was probably a bit more consistent. I also got a bit bigger and more aggressive.”

O’Brien credits a former Crow and now-Richmond cult hero for helping to improve his aggression.

O’Brien worked with another Calder Cannons product, Ivan Maric, during the season.

“I really enjoyed my time under Ivan. He taught me to be more aggressive,” he said.

National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie said the Crows had recruited O’Brien as a ruckman, but wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up playing in defence at some stage.

“We thought Reilly was one of the best ruckmen in the TAC Cup this year,” Ogilvie said.

“In the TAC Cup Grand Final, Reilly played in defence but went into the ruck in the last quarter when Calder needed a lift and reminded us again that the ruck is his spot.

“But now, he can play forward, back and ruck. At 201cm, he could probably play on blokes like Kurt Tippett, Tom Boyd and Jon Patton if we needed him. He’s got some development to come, but he’s a big, strong kid and highly intelligent.

“He’s rapt to be coming to the Crows.”