Jake Kelly interrupted coach Phil Walsh’s daily workout to find out that he would be making his AFL debut at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.

A hamstring injury to Kyle Cheney created an opening for a Crows defender against Melbourne. When Kelly was summoned to see the coach mid-week he was hopeful it would be good news.

“Walshy told me I was playing on Wednesday at about five o’clock. He was on the treadmill on the shed floor, running with his headphones on,” Kelly said after his debut.

“I went upstairs to the gym and tapped him on the shoulder. He said, ‘Congratulations, mate. You’re making your debut’. I rang the family and got pretty emotional. It’s been an unreal week.”

Kelly, 20, was promoted to Adelaide’s senior list in place of injured veteran Brent Reilly on Thursday.

The 189cm, 87kg, backman endured a nervous couple of days after learning of his impending debut. Teammate and housemate, Patrick Dangerfield, helped put Kelly’s mind at ease.

“Initially, I was really nervous but I calmed down a lot and by game day I was fine,” Kelly said.

“Patty just kept telling me to keep everything clean in the house – he’s a neat freak! No, he’s very calm before a game. He just said, ‘You’ve really got to back yourself. You’ve done the work over the pre-season’.

“It was a good piece of advice.”

Dangerfield’s fiancé, Mardi, also helped mark the occasion in the house, which the two-time All Australian nicknames ‘The Performance Centre’.

“We have a little sign at home where you can write stuff. Mardi had it saying, ‘Congratulations, Jake Kelly’ and the No.47,” Kelly said.

“It was great. ‘Mards’ is unreal.”

Kelly’s parents, Craig and Meredith, made the trip to Adelaide from Melbourne to watch their son on debut. The pair presented Jake with his playing guernsey in the pre-match team meeting.

“It was unreal getting my jumper presented by my Dad,” Kelly said.

“I got pretty emotional, actually, and so did Dad. I think even ‘Walshy’ did too! I even had a tear in my eye. It was incredible.”

A tough defender, Craig Kelly played 122 games for Collingwood including the 1990 premiership. He also in excess of 100 matches for SANFL club Norwood before joining the Magpies in the AFL.

Jake was eligible to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Pies as a father-son selection, but Collingwood passed over the left-footer. The Crows offered Kelly an opportunity with pick No.40 in the Rookie Draft of December, 2013.

Kelly, who by his own admission isn’t the “most talented player”, has worked tirelessly on his game.

His coaches and teammates admire and respect his work ethic, professionalism and his sheer competitiveness. He earned the nickname ‘Bull’ or ‘Raging Bull’ in his first week at the Club after being accused of going ‘too hard’ in a warm-up training drill.

In his first season at Adelaide, Kelly played every game for the Club’s SANFL team, finishing equal-runner up in the best and fairest award. He led the SANFL Crows for marks and averaged 16 possessions, while also shutting down some of the League’s best forwards.

Last month, he was selected to play his first NAB Challenge game in Port Lincoln, and held his spot for all three pre-season matches. Kelly said his AFL debut in Adelaide’s 25-point win over the Demons was reward for years of effort.

“I had to learn to work hard in juniors because I wasn’t the most talented kid. I had to work hard just to get on a rookie list,” he said.

“I never walked into the Club thinking I was a rookie, though. I’ve always had the mindset that I’m a chance to play every game, because the Club could easily upgrade me.

“(To play today) was incredible. Absolutely incredible … even better than I thought.

“Getting that win was just unreal.”

Kelly’s thirst for the contest was on show on Saturday as he laid 10 tackles to go with seven possessions and three marks in the wet conditions. He said the physicality went to another level on Saturday compared to his NAB Challenge experiences.

“Inside the contest it was a lot harder and a lot more physical, with guys throwing their bodies around. That was probably the main difference,” he said.

“Everyone played their role today. We had a slow start and they got on top of us early. It was just an arm wrestle, so it was good to get the result.”

The popular young Crow received an exceptionally heavy Gatorade shower after the win.

The drenching left him cold and sticky, but he was in no hurry to take his Crows jumper off.

“I can’t even see now!” he said of his soaking.