Recruit Dean Gore says he’s excited to be a Crow following the “craziest” few days of his life.

Gore, 19, joins Adelaide as part of the trade that saw Patrick Dangerfield depart for Geelong.

The Sturt junior, who signed a contract extension during the season, was only one year into his career at the Cats when the Crows sounded him out about a possible return to South Australia.

After the initial shock, Gore weighed up his options and decided to accept Adelaide’s offer. Geelong coach Chris Scott was sad to see Gore go, saying that the skilful utility had “a bright future”.

Gore said the opportunity to come back to Adelaide and play for the club he grew up supporting was too good to pass up.

“It’s been the craziest four days of my life making this decision,” Gore said.

“It was a complete shock on Wednesday when my manager and people from the Geelong Football Club rang me up to tell me about the situation.

“Over the last few days, I’ve just had to assess my options and write down some positives and negatives for both (outcomes). I’ve chosen the Adelaide Footy Club and I can’t wait to get stuck into it.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity for me to improve my footy and is, hopefully, one step forward to getting into an AFL side, which is what I’ve wanted to do since I was really young.

" I supported the Crows growing up and went to a lot of games. To, hopefully, one day pull on the Crows jumper will be a great moment.”

Head of Football David Noble said Adelaide came close to drafting Gore in 2014.

“We had Dean Gore on our (draft) list last year – we won’t tell you where we had him! But he was pretty close and we were around about the mark where Geelong were, I think,” Noble said.

“He’s an exciting, tough, running half-back/wing/midfielder. He fits into (Senior Coach Don Pyke) Pykey’s (requirements of) versatility and adaptability in positions. He’s really strong, clean, doesn’t lose his feet and is a good kick."

Gore impressed in his first season at Geelong.

The South Australian Under-18 representative made his Cats debut in the NAB Challenge, and was on the verge of a possible early-season AFL call up when he injured his shoulder. He ended up finishing third in Geelong’s VFL best and fairest despite playing only 11 games.

Gore said he would benefit from his experiences at the Cats and also living away from home.

“I’ll be forever grateful for the opportunity I had at the Geelong Cats,” he said.

“I’ve matured a lot being away from home for a year. I had to learn a new city and things like getting to training on my own, and buying a car. I got a rough idea of what the AFL system is like and the training loads involved.

“I think the biggest key to it all is that I’ve just learned so much this year. Hopefully, I can even bring a few things to Adelaide that might help the Crows."

Gore will be reunited with SA Under-18 teammates Harrison Wigg and Keenan Ramsey, as well as Riley Knight, who he was involved with in several junior football programs.

He also knows Crows defender Matthew Jaensch, who hails from the same home town of Hahndorf.

Gore said he’d gained even more respect for the Adelaide Football Club, and his new teammates following the tragic events of Season 2015.

“The Crows had an amazing year, even playing a couple of finals,” he said.

“The passing of Phil Walsh was really sad from the perspective of a player at another club and, even from the outside, it was tough to watch them going through that, so I can’t imagine what they were going through here.

“But the way the Club handled it, it just seems like a great culture there and a really close-knit group. They sound like they have a great work ethic as well.

“To make finals after what happened this year and to win one as well was a really good effort.”