After experiencing mixed emotions in his first game against his old club, Crow Eddie Betts says he’s genuinely excited about the rematch with Carlton at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

Betts, who joined the Crows as a Free Agent at the end of 2013, shed a few tears as he embraced his former teammates following Adelaide’s Round 10 loss to the Blues last season.

He admitted it had been tough lining up against the club where he played 184 games, but said he was ready to face his old friends again this weekend.

“Last time, was unique. I was a bit emotional after the game, but I’m really looking forward to it this week,” Betts told 3AW on Monday night.

“It’s funny playing the Blues … because I grew up with those (Carlton) boys. I was at Carlton for nine years and am a Life Member of the club. They’re like brothers to me, so it’s playing against your brothers.

“But you always want to go out and beat your brothers too, so it’s going to be a great match.”

Betts, who is enjoying a career-best season, is happy for the focus to be back on footy after a difficult few days last week.

In what was supposed to be a celebration of Indigenous Round, Betts was dragged into the saga that unfolded at Carlton. In a parting shot, ex-Blues coach Mick Malthouse suggested the small forwarded had been “stitched up” by the Crows while under contract at the Blues.

The accusation prompted an AFL inquiry, which quickly revealed no wrongdoing on behalf of Betts or the Adelaide Football Club. The situation unfolded at a terrible time for Betts, who was in Western Australia with his family to mourn the passing of his Grandfather.

Betts said he hadn’t let the situation affect him.

“I wasn’t really even focusing on footy, to be honest. As you know, I went home (to Kalgoorlie) for my Grandfather’s funeral,” he said.

“I got off the plane in Perth on Tuesday at eight o’clock in the morning and had about 20 missed calls and 20 messages from all the boys. I thought, ‘What’s going on? I just left the place!’

“Obviously, I was a bit disappointed to be thrown into that situation but it didn’t bother me. I just got on with what I had to.”

Betts reaffirmed that he didn’t decide to join the Crows until well after the 2013 season had finished.

“After the Carlton Best and Fairest, I was still just trying to weigh up my options,” he said.

“It was out of Carlton, North Melbourne and Adelaide. Part of me was being drawn back to South Australia where I grew up.

“My Dad was pretty sick at that time as well … so to have the chance to come back to Adelaide and play for the team I grew up barracking for, it was a dream come true really.

“I’m pretty happy where I am. We (the team is) enjoying it and we’re enjoying playing together too, which is good. I’m in a happy space at the moment.”

Betts put the events of the week behind him and kicked two goals in Adelaide’s 11-point loss to Fremantle on Saturday night.

The in-form Crow’s second goal was a remarkable left-foot torpedo from the boundary line on the 50m arc on the opposite side of the ground to ‘Eddie’s Pocket’.

“All the boys get stuck into me because they say I can kick further on my left foot than on my right,” he said with a laugh.

“I just had a crack, to be honest. I knew that it was wet, so the ball would skid. If it went through, it went through and if it didn’t, it didn’t.”

Betts celebrated with the fans, his arms outstretched as the crowd of 45,500 rose to its feet.

Adelaide’s leading goalkicker laughed at suggestions he should assume the naming rights of more of the ground after slotting two goals from other pockets. He said he was content with ‘owning’ the pocket under the old scoreboard.

“Last time, when I kicked a goal from that pocket, I think it was against Port, I actually put my arms up, pointed to the ground and said, ‘This is my pocket!’”

As well as being a human highlights reel, Betts is a model citizen off the football field.

The two-time All Australian nominee, who couldn’t read or write when he was drafted to Carlton, uses his story and journey to influence and mentor young teammates and also kids in the community.

“Early days, I was a shy kid and didn’t really talk. I didn’t like to speak up in meetings,” he said.

“As you get older and learn a bit more about the game, you have to speak up and teach these young kids the game plan. That’s what I like doing. I helped Jeffy (Garlett) at Carlton and now young Charlie Cameron as well.

“I’ve got to start doing that stuff now because I’m getting to the later stage of my career.”

Betts, who aspires to become a teacher post-footy, admits he wasn’t always the perfect role model.

“In the early days, I was a bit silly and dumb!” he said.

“I used to go home and eat the wrong food. The skinnies (skinfolds) weren’t great and I didn’t really do any training over the summer, so I wasn’t listening either.

“I came back to pre-season overweight and unfit and big Lance Whitnall beat me in the time trial.”

Renowned for his dislike of the pool, Betts also recalled a story of a beach session gone wrong.

“Tony Liberatore used to be an assistant coach at Carlton and he had a beach house down in Sorrento,” Betts said.

“He said, ‘Do you want to do some weights and some training?’ and I said, ‘I’d love to’. We went down and trained on the beach. We went swimming and he gave me a boogie board. It was one of those boards with the elastic that tied to your hand, but it had snapped.

“I was out on the boogie board and got dragged into a rip. At that stage, I was 21-years-old and didn’t really know how to swim. I was headed straight out to sea and was getting dumped by these waves.

“The lifeguard actually had to come out and save me! I got to the beach … Libba tapped me on the shoulder and asked, ‘Where’s my board?’ I said, ‘Don’t worry about your board, I almost drowned!”