It was the debut the Crows faithful had been waiting (what felt like) forever to see, and highly-touted young midfielder Brad Crouch didn’t disappoint.

After a season developing his game against mature bodies in the SANFL, Crouch made a seamless transition to the elite level in Adelaide’s 19-point win over Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday.

The skilful 19-year-old showed off his balance of grunt and skill, displaying clean hands in gathering 18 possessions and also winning five hard-ball gets – second only to star teammate Patrick Dangerfield. Crouch’s performance was so impressive, coach Brenton Sanderson said he might’ve erred in not selecting the Ballarat teenager to play in Round One.

“Crouchy is just made of the right stuff. He’s a natural footballer … he just knows how to play,” Sanderson said.

“He’s been waiting a long time. He’s been with us over twelve months and we made him wait an extra week, which might’ve been a mistake in hindsight, but he played well tonight.

“He really added to our midfield depth.”

An error of judgement or not, Crouch knew there was only one way to respond to missing out on selection in Round One and set about putting on a best-on-ground performance for West Adelaide.

“I was pretty disappointed when I didn’t get selected for Round One, but there had to be someone who missed out,” Crouch said.

“I wanted to go back to Westies and play a good game … if you keep putting pressure on with your performance you’re half a chance to be picked.”

In the end, Crouch only had to wait one more round to make his debut. But having arrived at West Lakes 18 months prior and been ineligible to play in 2012, it was a long time coming.

“It’s all been built up to be a massive wait, but it hasn’t fazed me too much,” Crouch said.

“When you look at it, I’ve only really missed one game I could’ve played in (Round One).

“It hasn’t been a long wait, really.”

Crouch’s proud parents, Phil and Debbie, made the trip to Brisbane from Ballarat to watch their son play his first AFL game. Crouch’s younger brother, Matt, was on AIS-AFL duties in Europe and had to follow the match on Twitter in the early hours or the morning. Matt was represented at the Gabba by his girlfriend, who also flew from Victoria to see Brad play.

“It was good to see mum and dad in the rooms before the game,” Crouch said.

“They came all the way up for it, so to get my jumper from them was great.

“Sando also said a few words and it was a great moment.”

Crouch started the match on the bench, but settled his nerves with two early possessions. He finished the first quarter with seven disposals.

“I was a bit nervy sitting on the bench, waiting to get on,” he said.

“Once I got on and got the first couple of touches out of the way it was just like playing any other footy game.”

Like most of the players on the ground, Crouch began to feel the pinch in the last quarter.

“The running component was probably the biggest step up from the SANFL. You run a lot harder … I was knackered by the end,” he said.

But the Crows responded to Sanderson’s pre-game demand to “run when it matters” and kicked the last five goals of the game to secure a hard-fought win.

“It was great to get the win. I didn’t realise how good it felt to win, playing for the Crows. It’s a great feeling. I can’t imagine what it would be like to win a Grand Final after experiencing that win today.

“I loved it.”