Overlooked in last year’s national and rookie drafts, Brown made his SANFL league debut in round one this year and performed well at senior level all season.
Brown comes to Adelaide not waiting to be selected at the draft after the club struck a deal with GWS during Trade Week.
Speaking to the media on Thursday afternoon sitting next to new senior coach Brenton Sanderson, Brown admitted it was a benefit to stay in his home state.
“This year has happened pretty quickly, especially not having to go in the draft and just getting picked up in trade week,” he said.
“My footy has developed a lot, especially playing league footy. (Nathan Bassett) has given me the opportunity to play league against the bigger bodies with faster play. I’ve been able to adjust to it pretty quickly.
“Any time in the SANFL will help you but I think I can take the next step and improve my footy even more. I guess it’s pretty much a dream to stay here and play AFL.”
Sanderson was one of the first people to greet Brown when he arrived at the club and the new Senior Coach is excited to have one of the South Australia’s most talented young footballers join the playing group.
“Our recruiters had massive wraps for Luke and have followed his progress really closely this year,” Sanderson said.
“Luke is an exceptional talent. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but Adelaide supporters should be looking forward to seeing him play.
“We probably see him playing in the midfield, but we’ve seen him play some great footy up forward and he can play as a small defender. That’s the beauty these days of drafting young players is they’re adaptability and they can play numerous roles.”
Adelaide also secured the second pick in Monday’s mini-draft that gives clubs the ability to choose some of the best 17-year-old footballers in Australia.
Players chosen in this draft are too young to play AFL in 2012 but can still join the Club on a full-time basis and play in a state league competition, and Adelaide has its sights set on Victorian youngster Brad Crouch.
Crouch was named an All Australian under-18 side this year after representing Vic Country in the national under-18 championships, and Brenton Sanderson said it was a great benefit for the club to have access to one of the country’s best young talents.
“The club hasn’t had the opportunity to bring such young quality players into the fold for a long time so to get a young kid like Brad Crouch at 17 would be a great get for the footy club; Monday it happens and I can’t wait,” he said.
“It’s a benefit if we can get our hands on him and he can develop in the SANFL and we can give him some specialist coaching here.”
It was a busy day for the football club with the announcement of Geelong veteran Darren Milburn joining the club as an assistant.
Milburn, who played 292 games for the Cats, will take over the defensive group after Ben Hart joined Collingwood during Grand Final week.
Sanderson was excited about the prospect of having his former teammate working alongside him at the Crows.
“Milburn will be outstanding for this group; he’ll add to this great mix that we’ve now got,” he said.
“That’s one of the strong points about senior players where I’ve come from, they are outstanding coaches while they’re playing and he will slip into this role without too much fuss.
“He’ll be great for our young defenders and obviously the experienced one’s as well. When you get a player with 292 games experience, players can’t help but learn from someone like Darren Milburn.”
