From mid-morning ‘smoko’ breaks in a previous life, to becoming an important cog in Adelaide’s young backline, newly re-signed Crow Kyle Hartigan says he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

The 23-year-old defender was plying his trade as an electrician while playing for VFL club Werribee before Adelaide selected the 194cm, 94kg Victorian in the 2013 Rookie Draft.

Hartigan’s mature frame and strong work ethic saw him make his AFL debut in his first year at West Lakes and earn promotion to the Club’s senior list the following season.

It hasn’t been an easy road, but Hartigan said the journey had shaped him as a person and player.

“I didn’t think three years ago when I was a tradie that I’d be playing AFL footy and be on a list (what will be) five years now,” he said after announcing a two-year contract extension on Tuesday.

“I’m really happy. To move away from Victoria - it’s been a change in my life, but it’s been really good.”

Hartigan, who has played 15 games in his third year as a Crow, said memories from his days on the job remained a constant inspiration for him to make the most of every opportunity.

“It’s 11.30am now, so I’d probably be on a ‘smoko’, probably be having an iced coffee (and) a pie. Probably crawling through a roof with rats or something like that,” he laughed.

“I feel very fortunate about every game that I play and the longer I can stay on the list I’ll be grateful, so I don’t have to crawl under any floors or anything like that again.

“When I first got here…being a rookie, you only get that one year, so you’ve got to leave no stone unturned. You’ve got to have a crack at everything.

“It really drove me really hard to actually make it a success.

“I knew what the outside world was, what it was like to work a job and go to footy training and play on the weekend against full-time footballers. That was really hard, so I just wanted to take the opportunity with both hands.

“I wouldn’t trade this in for the world.”

Adelaide’s backline is one of the youngest in the competition, with the likes of Hartigan, Daniel Talia, Rory Laird, Brodie Smith and Jake Lever often giving away years of experience to their opponents.

But Hartigan said the group was growing in stature with each game, and said he was excited to remain part of the future of the Club.

“A lot has been said about how young we are,” he said.

“The more games we play together and the development of the group as a team within a team – we’re only going to get better.

“I think we’ve got a pretty exciting backline with the blokes coming through like Jakey Lever, ‘Tals’, Lairdy and…Brodie Smith.

“Hopefully there’s some team success (in the future) that we can build towards as a group.”