New Adelaide recruit Izak Rankine has revealed why he chose to request a trade from Gold Coast to become a Crow.
Rankine played 48 games for the Suns across three seasons after being taken with pick No. 3 in the 2018 Draft, and while he loved his time on the Gold Coast, always wanted to come home.
Having been recruited from West Adelaide, Rankine says his motivation to return to South Australia was for family reasons.
“Mostly just for family reasons I think,” Rankine said on SEN SA The Run Home.
“There was a home factor, I always wanted to come home, it was just a matter of when and it happened sooner rather than later.
“It wasn’t too much going on, I was still loving my time on the coast but I wanted to be around family and friends again in Adelaide.”
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Rankine says his decision to ask for a move home came about after the Suns’ Round 15 clash against the Power where he had the opportunity to play in front of those close to him at the Adelaide Oval.
“To be honest, I was just playing footy and was really invested in the club, I left that stuff to my manager,” Rankine said.
“When we played Port in Adelaide at the back end of the season, that’s when it sunk in that I was a real possibility to come home.
“From then on, from that Port game, it was just a snowball effect.
Rankine revealed that his mum teared up after he let her know of his decision to return, adding that playing for a big South Australian club was always something he wanted to do.
“Yes (mum cried), but mum’s always in tears though,” Rankine said.
“She was happy for me to be coming home, no one was going to pressure me into any decision but when you see your family and your friends, you do miss that.
“I’m a product of South Australia and the best thing to be able to do is play footy in South Australia for a South Australian team in front of big crowds, that’s what excites me the most.”
Despite receiving interest from Essendon, Rankine says he was always going to pick Adelaide having grown up a Crows supporter and explained why a three-year term was agreed upon.
“Yeah look, I’ve always gone for the Crows as everyone knows,” Rankine said.
“I was never going anywhere else.
“To be honest that’s what the parties agreed upon a three-year deal, I’m happy with whatever really, but that’s what was agreed upon.”
With one of the highest potentials in the competition, Rankine views himself as a forward that can play midfield minutes, an area of the ground where he’d be able to get his hands on the football more and impact games consistently.
“I’d love to be playing midfield and rotating forward,” Rankine said.
“I played midfield growing up, rotating forward and I reckon my best footy is running amok, having a bit of fun, kicking goals and doing whatever the team needs.
“If that’s in the midfield then that’s cool but I’m sure me and ‘Nicksy’ (Matthew Nicks) will sit down in the next weeks to come and Darren Burgess as well to see where I fit in and what I can provide.”
The 22-year-old kicked multiple goals in eight games last season, with five bags of three or more.