ADELAIDE draftee Rory Sloane has his sights set on a round one berth after making an encouraging debut against West Coast on Friday night.

Sloane, 18, has taken the transition to AFL life in his stride since arriving at West Lakes via pick No.44 in last year’s NAB AFL Draft.

He ruffled coach Neil Craig’s hair on day one and showed contempt for his older, more experienced teammates with a dominant display in the club’s internal trial.

But he conceded his first game of AFL footy was a big step up. 

“I found that when you make a mistake at this level it’s very costly. The pace is a bit quicker than TAC Cup footy and a lot more skilful for sure,” Sloane said on Monday.

“There was a time on the weekend when I was running down the wing, everything was a blur and you’re trying to make a decision. You have to be aware of your surroundings and good with your decision making, but that’s the sort of thing that will come with a few more games under the belt.”

Sloane, who hails from the same U18 side as Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell (the Eastern Ranges), is just one of a handful of players pressing for selection at West Lakes.

Patrick Dangerfield, who remains untried in this year’s pre-season competition, starred in an internal trial with SANFL club West Adelaide on the weekend.

Dangerfield had 23 possessions and rookie Chris Schmidt garnered 27 touches.

Last year’s second-round pick Shaun McKernan dominated with South Adelaide for the second week in-a-row, finishing with 3.2, five marks and 11 hit-outs.

Tony Armstrong, who was named in the 29-man-squad to tackle West Coast, was impressive with 20 disposals on the wing for North Adelaide.

Prized No.10 draft pick Phil Davis also made his return from a shoulder reconstruction in the same game.

The Crows are expected to regain Kurt Tippett (knee), Richard Douglas (hip), Brad Symes (wrist/hand), Ben Rutten (knee) and Jason Porplyzia (shoulder) over the next few weeks and Sloane said it would be tough to break into the side.

“There is a bit of competition around. There are a lot of older guys as well and so many amongst the midfield group especially. It’s a bit of a fight, but it will just come down to how well you train,” he said.

“I’ll have to see how the next few weeks go. The body has held up fine, so we’ll have to wait and see how the form is. It’s definitely an aim [to play round one].”

Dream Team watch: Rory Sloane is rated a $86,600 forward/defender in Toyota AFL Dream Team 2009.