FOR A young midfielder living in Adelaide like Sam Kerridge, Patrick Dangerfield would surely be the perfect housemate.

One of the game's elite players and certainly one of its most explosive, Dangerfield knows all the tricks required to be the best.

They live together in what they cheekily (and jokingly) dub "the performance centre", so Kerridge has been picking the brain of his superstar roomie - and football fans have seen the results in 2013. The 20-year-old has produced several impressive performances since breaking into the side for the club's round-four clash with the Western Bulldogs.

While he's been used as a run-with player by coach Brenton Sanderson on multiple occasions, his 27-disposal, three-goal game against Greater Western Sydney in round seven was proof he was capable of more than shutting an opponent down.

"I live with 'Patty' Dangerfield so he's taken me under his wing and really looked after me in all aspects, on and off the field," Kerridge told AFL.com.au.

"That's been fantastic for my development and something that I really enjoy.

"He just says to go out there and play your role. Obviously I've had a couple of roles over the last few weeks, so as long as I'm doing that for the team that's all I can do."

At his best, Dangerfield is one of the best players in the game and is regarded as one of the most explosive, with his elite speed and strength.

Kerridge is a hard unit in his own right, boasting supreme endurance and, like his housemate, the strength of a raging bull.

The 188cm midfielder said he banked on his running capacity to outlast most opponents and, while he built a reputation as one of the club's strongest after bench-pressing 130kg over the pre-season, he stressed the numbers were meaningless.

"My aerobic tank has always been seen as an asset that I can really use to hurt the opposition, but you still tire late in quarters as expected," he said.

"If I can keep utilising my tank and hopefully hurting them late in quarters that'd be good.

"It's not about all the numbers – it's about developing your body to be able to go out there and play to the best of your ability.

"I was lucky enough to have a mature body early in my career and if I can just keep building on that, like I said, the numbers don't really matter as long as I can hold my own out there and stand tall."

Gifted with natural ability and with his club's best player on hand 24/7 for advice, the future looks bright for Kerridge.

He said he had already felt the benefits of a second AFL pre-season but insisted he had plenty of development left.

Kerridge has played five consecutive games this season after only managing a quarter last year, and said the more he played the more comfortable he had become.

"I've been lucky enough to get more opportunity and [I'm] hopefully taking it with both hands," he said.

"There's still a lot of development in my own game to go, but the boys are helping me out and it's been good so far.

"Having a second pre-season under my belt is another thing - your body adapts to the intensity and the work rate required to play at this level."