For the TV audience and vocal AAMI Stadium crowd, the three ‘mini’ matches on Sunday afternoon seemed to fly by, but for debutant Sam Kerridge 30 minutes of football felt like an eternity.

Adelaide’s first pick in November’s AFL Draft, Kerridge was one of seven players to pull on the Crows jumper for the first time in the opening round of the NAB Cup.

Selected to play in the Club’s second and final match of the afternoon against Port Adelaide, the 18-year-old struggled to watch his teammates do battle with Carlton in the first game.

“I tried not to watch too much of the game against Carlton because I was too nervous,” Kerridge told afc.com.au.

“I was just itching to get out there, so I kind of stayed down in the rooms and kept it quiet

“When I did get out there against Port it was outstanding.

“It’s something every kid dreams of doing, so to get even a slight taste of it was amazing.

“To get a kick, which I should’ve converted into a goal, was even better.

“It was only a 30-minute game, but it dragged on quite long … at least it did for me.

“It’s a huge step up even from intra-club matches we’ve had over the past two weeks.

“The intensity was something different, but that’s obviously something you have to get used to and I couldn’t be happier.”

Kerridge combined his in-and-under stoppage work with his breakaway speed to collect six possessions, two marks and a behind against the Power.

Sunday’s matches were reduced from 20 to 15-minute halves because of concerns over the heat, but Mother Nature had a change of heart late in the day, with steady rain hitting AAMI Stadium and making conditions difficult in the final game between the Crows and Power.

After trailing in both matches, Adelaide ground out two narrow wins to give rookie coach Brenton Sanderson an ideal start to his senior coaching career.

Kerridge said Sanderson had impressed the players in his first official hit-out as coach.

“’Sando’ was outstanding. He was a natural, like he’d been doing it for many years,” Kerridge said.

“He came over to me and gave me a little talking to, which was good.

“He spoke to me about things I could do better to help the team and push the team along and that was really good for me.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better start.

“The boys played really well and the things we’ve been working on over the pre-season, hopefully, some of that showed out there.

“We did what we were supposed to do and came away with two wins, which was great.”