AS A SHY 18-year-old kid entering an interstate AFL environment for the first time, rookie Ed Curnow could have been forgiven for easing his way into life as an Adelaide Crow.

Instead, he upstaged fitness gurus Nathan van Berlo and Brett Burton and immortalised himself in the Adelaide record books by setting a new club record for the 3km time trial in his very first attempt.

Curnow’s time of “around” 9m30s would have smashed the winning time of 10m23s set at last year’s NAB AFL Draft Camp, where Curnow was restricted by illness.

“VB [van Berlo] took it [coming second] pretty well and beat me on the next one and then the next one,” Curnow said with a laugh.

“I was pretty happy the first time, but VB and Birdman set a really high standard. Goody is also a pretty strong runner. Their second efforts are unbelievable. I’ll beat them in one race and think I’m going all right and then we’ll do another race and they’ll beat me easily.”

Curnow hasn’t always been a supreme athlete. In fact, he only took up running competitively in a bid to realise his dream of playing AFL footy. However, his pedigree was never in doubt, with his two sisters also emerging as first-class athletes in their home state of Victoria.

“I played football all the way through, but when I was 16 I started running to help me get into local football sides and, in particular, the Geelong Falcons under 18s,” Curnow said.

“I got better and better with running, so I started competing in some 400m and 800m events. I love my running now and it’s handy out on the footy field.

“I was never going to pursue athletics. It was all to help my footy. I was told by a coach at the time that I needed to add something to my game that other smaller blokes didn’t have, if I really wanted to make it in footy. I added my running ability and it’s worked out okay so far.”

But not even professional athletics training in Victoria, where he worked alongside Olympic hopefuls, could prepare the former Geelong Falcon for the heavy workload at West Lakes.

“Coming to the Crows has definitely been another step up. Training is full on and you really have to be on your game,” he said.

“It’s an intensity I haven’t been exposed to before, so it’s a big step up no matter how fit you are or how much work you think you’ve done. It’s hard, but I love it.”

After his impressive first pre-season outing, Curnow was railroaded by a quad injury.

The small tear persisted to cause problems for several weeks and delayed his SA footy debut.

Three weeks ago the driven ball winner made his SANFL reserves debut with Glenelg. On Saturday, he was named among the best players for the first time.

“It’s a good league. I probably didn’t play that well in the first couple of games, but I’m enjoying it and I’m getting there,” he said.

“It’s the first time I’ve played senior footy, so it has taken a bit of adjusting. Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t played since the U18 finals last year, so it was a bit weird and it felt like forever, but it makes it even better to be back now.”

The indigenous youngster was one of two Geelong Falcons drafted to Adelaide last year, with the other being the Crows’ prized recruit and his “gun” midfield teammate, Patrick Dangerfield.

In what is widely regarded as the Crows strongest rookie list in years, Curnow, like Jared Petrenko, James Moss and Brodie Martin, is a genuine chance to make it onto the senior list, given the long-term injury to Rhett Biglands.

“Being elevated to the senior list is a goal you kind of keep to the side a little bit,” he said.

“At the moment, I’m focused on achieving my short-term goals, like getting back from injury, getting a stronger kicking leg and playing some good footy in the reserves.

“Hopefully, if I keep working hard I can get into the Glenelg league side and we’ll see what happens from there.”