Exciting forward Josh Jenkins has committed to the Crows, signing a two-year contract extension.

Jenkins, 25, leads Adelaide’s goalkicking this season. The athletic tall has kicked 13 goals from five games, including two bags of four. He’s ranked third in the AFL for goals in the last month.

At, 198cm and 106kg, Jenkins possesses great speed and agility for a player his size. He’s dangerous at ground level and can also pinch-hit in the ruck.

A latecomer to Australian Rules, the former basketballer has played 33 games since making his AFL debut in 2012. He started his AFL career on Essendon’s rookie list in 2010, but was lured to Adelaide in the 2011 Trade Period before playing a game for the Bombers.

The new deal ties Jenkins to the Crows until at least the end of 2016. General Manger of List Management and Strategy David Noble said Jenkins had enormous upside.

“Josh has emerged as a valuable player for us, whether that be up forward or in the ruck,” he said.

“His form in recent weeks has given everyone a snapshot of his ability. We also feel his best is still to come, and his game knowledge will improve further as he adds more games to his tally.

“We should not forget that Josh made a late start with football after transitioning from basketball.”

Jenkins established himself in the Crows team last season, playing 17 straight games before a fractured leg put a premature end to his season. He finished third in Adelaide’s goalkicking, despite missing the last five games through injury.

After a modified start to pre-season training, he worked his way back to full fitness and form and forced his way back into the team in Round Three this year.

Jenkins said it took a few games to find his feet after a long injury lay-off.

“I think I’ve made some good progress in my five games thisyear. It took me a little while to come back from my injury. I hadn’t experienceda long-term injury before, so I probably felt like I was ready to go when infact I wasn’t quite at the level," Jenkins said.

"It was probably a good thing for me to play acouple of practice matches with the State League team. That allowed me to getsome confidence and get some zip back in my game. Since I’ve been up at the AFLlevel, I feel like I’ve been able to contribute most weeks.

"The consistency isthe challenge. ‘Bicks’ (forward line coach Mark Bickley) is always onto me aboutplaying one good game into another good game … not having one good one and onebad one. I have to keep working on that aspect of my game and, hopefully, I canhave a good season.”

Jenkins juggled basketball and football as a junior, but opted to pursue basketball as a teenager. He toured the US with an Australian Under-19 team and was a member of the Townsville Crocs NBL squad, but after a lack of opportunity on-court returned home to Swan Hill in Victoria and reignited his footy career.

He played locally for Lake Boga in the Central Murray Football League, and also 10 games for VFL club Frankston that helped him catch the eye of AFL recruiters. He was selected by Essendon with pick No.12 in the Rookie Draft in December, 2010.