Gold Coast trade period addition Hugh Greenwood is already a huge fan of young forward Izak Rankine.
Rankine went at pick three in the 2018 National Draft, but sat out the entirety of his first season dealing with ongoing hamstring issues.
He then injured his ‘good’ hamstring in the lead up to Round 1 and missed his side’s loss to Port Adelaide.
Greenwood however is excited to see what he can do once footy returns.
“He’s a star. He’s a genuine star. He’s a freak,” he told SEN SA Breakfast.
“I remember getting to trainings and he was only doing drills, but the drills that he was in he just dominates.
“Like, we would get him as a forward up around the footy and he gets just about every clearance.
“It’s often talked about that x-factor, he genuinely has that. He has so much of it.”
Greenwood believes this time off will give Rankine a chance to get through his long-running hamstring issues.
“He was obviously tracking to play Round 1 and then just had a little setback with the hammy,” he said.
“It wasn’t his bad hammy so that’s good news. He was in South Australia for a little bit checking in with the family and the club’s got him back and he wanted to come back and get stuck in.
“This time is so valuable for guys like him who have had long-term chronic injuries and gives them a time to get on top of it and make sure that when he does come back he’s ready to go.
“From all accounts he’d be closing in on his 14 days self isolation, I’ve heard he’s been smashing the Xbox, so once he’s out of there he’ll be getting stuck back in.
“Mate, he’s a genuine star and all going well we’ll see him Round 2.”