Since arriving at West Lakes in December Rachele has been a standout on the track, turning heads with his silky skills and box office athleticism.
Described by Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks as a “dream” at the club’s recent season launch, the Crows were quick to lock away the small forward, who will without doubt be a key figure in their ongoing rebuild.
Speaking on Adelaide’s FiveAA on Wednesday night, Rachele said it was an easy decision to extend his stay at West Lakes.
“It is really exciting news (to sign on), I think the older boys are really happy myself and Jake (Soligo) have extended our contracts,” Rachele said.
“Coming in it is a massive step up and you don’t really know what to expect, but it is a good young list and the boys were all on the same page and very welcoming, which made it very easy to settle in — you just felt like you were at a normal football club and having a very young list we are hoping for success in the future, so it was a bit of a no-brainer (to re-sign) really.”
Making the trip west unsure of what to expect, Rachele said he had really enjoyed getting stuck into his first AFL pre-season.
“Coming in we probably did 70 to 80 per cent of the sessions and after that we quickly went up to 100 per cent, so they have thrown us in the deep end, which has been good,” he said.
“(Fitness and running) was probably something I needed to work on coming from under-18s football, so having the likes of Ned McHenry in our group I have been trying to tag on to him, as well as the likes of Sam Berry and Rory Sloane.
“(In the match simulations) it is very enjoyable playing AFL football; I think the reason why we play is for the matches, so to be able to play almost every day has been great for my development and it has been really good for us to gel as a group.”
As for Rachele’s chances of an early season debut, Nicks said fans could see the prized recruit run out onto Adelaide Oval in the Crows’ season opener against Fremantle in a little more than a month’s time.
"He's a big chance for round one," Nicks told AFL.com.au.
"He was already well built, and he'd done a lot of work leading in prior to being drafted to get himself physically ready to play an AFL game.
"It's really exciting what he's brought to the group. He's a competitive beast, he likes kicking goals, and those players are important.”
14°C