BRAD Crouch spent season 2012 playing SANFL football for West Adelaide as an Adelaide-listed player; too young to make his AFL debut.

He trained with his AFL teammates, learnt their structures, patterns and what was expected of an elite athlete, but on game day he was forced to pull on the Bloods' red and black jumper.

Not that he complained of frustration at being kept in the SANFL ranks.

Crouch said being allowed time to get used to playing against men on a weekly basis significantly helped his football but, perhaps more importantly, being eased into AFL life helped him mature.

After being drafted by the Crows as a 17-year-old at the 2011 mini draft, Crouch said he's ready to step up.

"I think I'm pretty lucky because I've had the year to develop, so I think that's the big thing. Once you do that there's no reason why you shouldn't be ready," Crouch said.

"I've moved out of home, learning to cook and clean and stuff like that when if I had have been at home Mum would have been doing everything for me.

"So it helped me a lot as a person [and it was] also [a] huge help with my footy as well."

Should he run out with his teammates in round one next year, Crouch will make one of the most anticipated debuts in Adelaide's history.

As an 18-year-old in the SANFL he often showed glimpses of what Crows fans could expect to see in 2013 - sublime skills and an innate ability to find the ball.

Fans salivated when the young man booted an important set-shot goal against North Adelaide in the preliminary final, 50m out from the boundary in AAMI Stadium's toughest pocket.

Teammates and coach Brenton Sanderson were unable to contain their excitement throughout the season and declared him ready for the AFL.

Crouch said he didn't feel the external expectation and said the hopes he had placed on himself for the pre-season were really quite basic.

"I haven't really thought too much about the expectations…I've got my own expectations," he said.

"I don't try and put too much pressure on myself and I guess I feel like I'm reasonably relaxed about it all.

"Just to get through the pre-season [is the goal] really… keep it pretty simple … I try not to think about next year at all at the moment.

"I just want to complete every session in the gym and out there and I know that'll keep me in good stead."

A week into his second AFL pre-season, Crouch admitted he had already noticed the increased demands compared to his first.

While he sat out drills last season, he described the first week as a second-year player as "full on", but insisted he loved it.

His two newest teammates, draftees Sam Siggins and Rory Atkins, were both eased into training on Monday as Crouch was last year, but both said it was still enough to let them know they were now AFL-listed players.

Siggins told media he was thrilled to have slipped to pick No.62 and drafted by the Crows, while Atkins, who was dropped from the AIS-AFL Academy for his draft year and failed to make Vic Metro's final squad amid questions surrounding his work ethic, promised such queries were no longer valid.

"Adelaide's taken a chance on me and I'm hoping to pay them back and show them something," Atkins said.

"I think I got kicked out of that stuff because I was young, I didn't know what I had to do or what the process was to stay at that elite level.

"I've matured as a person and player so it worked out for the best."

Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.