Darcy Fogarty says signing an AFL contract extension with Adelaide Crows was a no-brainer

ADELAIDE draftee Darcy Fogarty has fulfilled a childhood dream playing in the AFL, now the rookie has signed a contract extension with the Crows.

Darcy Fogarty has signed a two-year contract extension with the Crows after playing six games in his debut season. Picture: David Mariuz (AAP).

ADELAIDE draftee Darcy Fogarty said signing a contract extension keeping him at the club until at least 2021 was a mere formality after a flying start to his AFL journey.

The No.12 draft pick last year has kicked six goals in six games this season after the door to senior selection was opened by injuries to Taylor Walker and Mitch McGovern.

Fogarty, who grew up supporting both Adelaide and Geelong, said he was living the dream and had no intentions of playing anywhere else after agreeing to a new two-year deal.

“It was pretty well just get it done, it’s a great club and a successful time and with the people here who I can learn from it’s good to stick around,” he told the Sunday Mail after Crows training on Saturday.

“I’m not sure what the process was but to get it done pretty quickly now and not have to worry about it later is exciting.

“It’s still surreal to fulfil my childhood dream, I’m very grateful for it and hopefully I can start repaying the favour soon.”

The 18-year-old said the biggest challenge he’d faced since being drafted was getting through pre-season and he was still working on his engine.

“Early on it was backing up training, obviously I didn’t come in as fit as I would have liked coming off a couple of injuries last year but it’s building,” he said.

“Usually it was school then footy training for a couple of hours twice a week and now it’s every day with training, gym, recovery, fuelling your body, it’s always on your mind.

“You can get by with being smart and not running in country footy but here you get exposed so quickly and it’s a massive hole if you’re not getting to the right spots.

“It was a goal for the year (to play senior footy), whether that was realistic or not at the start of pre-season is something we had to work through, and lucky for myself not the team the injuries have opened up opportunities.

Darcy Fogarty has thrilled fans with his strong marking, straight kicking and attack on the footy. Picture: Kelly Barnes (AAP).

“My body has been really good, it’s holding up and I want to keep building on fitness that I need to work on.”

As an emerging forward, Fogarty said he could not have landed at a better club to learn his craft.

“I talk to Tex (Walker) and JJ (Jenkins) and Gov (McGovern) and with running Lynchy (Lynch) helps out a lot, then the likes of Eddie Betts and because they’re so experienced you can bounce off them all,” Fogarty said.

“It’s good for preparation and good for development to be able to train with them.

“I want to play as much footy as I can with them.”

Crows assistant coach Scott Camporeale said the door was open for Fogarty to develop into a midfielder when his fitness improved.

“He’s a talented guy, the limitation at the moment is can he run through the midfield? If you watch the SANFL he’s played a little bit through there and we like what we saw but probably not at AFL level at the moment,” Camporeale said.

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