CROWS youngster Bernie Vince couldn’t wipe the smile off his face at the club’s recovery session on Sunday morning.
And why wouldn’t he be happy?
His dream of becoming an integral part in the Adelaide midfield is closer to coming true and, on Saturday, he was involved in a win he could only describe as “amazing”.
Vince was one of eight players with less than 50 games experience to play in Adelaide’s onball brigade against West Coast.
And the excitement generated by the young group was evident.
“We’ll definitely take some confidence out of that win over West Coast, especially us young fellas after getting a chance to play in the middle,” Vince said.
“When each week comes around, we’re all really excited to be in the midfield and hopefully we can do our job each week. To have a win like we did yesterday was just amazing to be involved in.”
Prior to this year, Vince had spent much of his ten AFL games up forward for the Crows, but after an injury-free pre-season the clever 22-year-old was determined to make a midfield spot his.
“I just love playing and especially playing in the midfield. I’ve played in the midfield pretty much my whole life and to get a chance to play in the middle at AFL standard- I just love it,” he said.
“With us young fellas coming through it gives guys like Goody [Simon Goodwin] a chance to have a run up forward.”
Goodwin, who mentors Vince at Adelaide, got on the end of some superb midfield delivery on Saturday to nail a career-high seven goals.
“Goody was on fire yesterday and I just loved being out there watching him- he’s a gun,” Vince said.
“In my time at the club, I don’t think I’ve seen him play a bad game, to be honest and hopefully he can carry that form from yesterday through to next week and for most of the year.”
Next week will mark another significant challenge for Vince and company with the Crows gearing up to play bitter rivals Port Adelaide in Sunday’s Showdown.
Vince was hopeful the record 76-point win over West Coast would be a real “starting point” for Adelaide’s season.
“I wouldn’t say the win over West Coast takes the pressure off heading into the Showdown, but hopefully it creates a bit of excitement for next week,” Vince said.
“They are always big games the Showdowns, so we’ll be pretty pumped to have a good crack next week.
Young tall Kurt Tippett, who jarred his knee in Saturday's win, ran freely at Sunday's recovery session and is still a chance to play next week.
Defender Greg Gallman was taken to hospital after suffering what was feared to be a ruptured spleen while playing for the North Adelaide reserves, but he was later cleared of serious injury.
