Donnelly, who was one of two Irishman to visit West Lakes in July, had just received a call to say his trial with the Crows had been a success and that he would be offered a playing contract for 2009.
Donnelly, determined to make the most of the head start over his fellow 2008 draftees, upped his training regime and attempted to hone his skills ahead of his Australian arrival in early November.
"I had a bit of time [to prepare] before coming over and it was pretty hard to think about anything else but moving [to Adelaide] and playing football," Donnelly said.
"After the trial, I was pretty anxious to know whether I would be coming back to Adelaide or not. The club made me sweat for two or three weeks, so when I finally got the call I was very pleased and eager to get started.
"They [the Crows] had given me a few [Australian] footballs to take home, so I walked around the place kicking those and did a bit of work on my fitness.
But as the former apprentice carpenter soon discovered, nothing could fully prepare him for the pre-season and life as a full-time Australian footballer.
"Obviously I didn't do enough work on my fitness before coming over. I didn't think the workload would be as tough as it is and I was caught on the hop really," Donnelly said.
"Everything is tough; the running, the Saturday morning conditioning sessions and the bike work with Charlie Walsh. It's all hard work but I like it and I'd rather be doing this than banging nails for a living at home."
Donnelly, unlike the rest of Adelaide's 2008 draftees, trained with the main group from day one — a remarkable achievement considering his amateur background.
"The workload caught up with me a little bit in the last week before Christmas," he said.
"It's a lot different to home. In Ireland we train only two times a week whereas over here we're training five or six. It's pretty tough, but I'm enjoying it."
The ex-Gaelic star first caught Adelaide's attention while playing Under 21s for County Louth and he had no idea he was about to become the club's first Irish signing.
"In March last year I was playing a county game for Louth against another county team and I played okay," Donnelly said.
"About a week later I got a phone call to say that there was a fella in Ireland from the Adelaide Crows watching me and he asked, 'Would I be interested in coming to play AFL?'
"It came as a big surprise because, although guys like Tadhg Kennelly and Marty Clarke had done it, I had no idea it was coming. He said, 'It's early days, but I'm going to look at you for a little while'.
"He watched probably 10 or 11 games and then asked me to come out to Australia. I came out and must have showed something because they asked me back."
Donnelly was one of four Irishmen nominated as International Rookies ahead of the 2008 NAB AFL Rookie Draft and he expected more of his countrymen to make the move down under in the years to come.
"AFL is the same type of game as Gaelic. Obviously it's a different shaped ball, but I suppose it was just the lure of playing professional sport that brought me here," he said.
"You can't do that in Ireland and, until you can, there are going to be a lot more players coming out to Australia to play AFL."
