HAVING spent a year on Adelaide's list but unable to play due to his age, young gun Brad Crouch says he was able to relax during his AFL debut against the Brisbane Lions on Saturday night.

He gathered 18 possessions and laid three tackles in game number one.

Crouch, now 19 years old, was just 17 when he arrived at West Lakes via the GWS mini draft in October 2011, and was therefore unavailable for senior selection until this season. He spent 2012 helping West Adelaide to a grand final appearance in the SANFL, and his AFL selection came off a 31 disposal performance for the Bloods last week.
 
Crouch said the experience of being able to embed himself in the club's pecking order before playing his first game made for a more relaxed debut.
 
"I've been with the boys for over a year now, so you know everyone well, you know everyone's real strengths and stuff like that, so you do feel really comfortable," Crouch said.
 
"[But] travelling away, and also my parents came up to the game…it definitely still did feel like a debut."
 
The hard-bodied midfielder said the jump from NAB Cup and SANFL level was noticeable, but that he was instructed to simply play his natural game. At 185cm and 84kg, Crouch has been likened to both Patrick Dangerfield and Scott Thompson.
 
Dangerfield and Thompson were both unstoppable against the Lions on Saturday night, particularly in the final term when Dangerfield slotted two match-winning goals. Crouch was in awe of the two superstars.
 
"The two goals he kicked were pretty special and I think one went pretty far in terms of getting us the win," he said.

"You can see (Dangerfield) and Scott Thompson are the big game players, they come to play when the game's on the line and I think they did that yesterday.”