Crows coach Brenton Sanderson says he was “shocked” highly-rated midfielder Matt Crouch was still available at the Club’s first pick in the AFL National Draft.

A fortnight ago, Sanderson joked he would have a party at his house if the youngest Crouch brother slipped to Adelaide. He was concerned Port Adelaide or the Brisbane Lions would snatch the promising left-footer from under the Crows with pick Nos.21 or 22.

Short of popping the corks on the spot, Sanderson grinned when National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie leaned into the microphone to call Crouch’s name at No.23.

“I was surprised Matt got that deep. I’m shocked,” Sanderson told FIVEaa after the draft.

“If know what the other recruiters would say, they’ll tell you Matt’s not the athletic type of footballer (and that’s why he slipped down the draft order).He’s a hard, in-and-under bulldozer type. He’s an old style, socks down, jumper out footballer, who just racks up the footy.

“Matt averaged 37 possessions a game in the TAC Cup while getting tagged. This kid is a ball magnet. I’m absolutely over the moon. You know how much I love Brad Crouch … to have the two brothers playing together for, potentially, the next 10-12 years is just going to be awesome for our fans.

“We’re really starting to build an incredible young midfield with guys like Patrick Dangerfield, Rory Sloane and Brad and Matt Crouch now. It’s really exciting for us.”

Sanderson said Matt and Brad shared similar traits as a result of their country football roots.

“The Crouch boys are footballers. They’re just hard players who put their head over the footy,” he said.

“They’re finals players … the ones who aren’t going to shirk the issue on Grand Final day or the big stage. They’ve grown up fighting each other and beating each other up. They’re made of the right stuff.

“They come from Ballarat where they breed them pretty tough, so I think we’re going to have a bit of fun with these two.”

At 180cm and 78kg, Crouch has the physique to play at AFL level sooner rather than later, but is the first to admit he’s got some work to do when it comes to his fitness. Sanderson said the 18-year-old was ready to play, but that it would be a challenge to break into Adelaide’s midfield group.

“If he’s good enough, we’ll play him. He’s got the strong, hard, Ballarat body like his brother. He’ll be ready to play, but we’ve got a really good midfield as it stands and he’s going to have to earn his stripes like any other kid that gets drafted,” Sanderson said.

“I’m just really excited to bring another Crouch into our group and more importantly another strong, tough midfielder, who are the players I like.”

Sanderson was equally rapt with Adelaide’s second selection, South Australian half-forward Riley Knight. The St Peter’s College student represented SA at the Under-18 National Championships, where he was one of the team’s most consistent performers.

“Riley is really exciting. He’s what we need – that bouncy, athletic half-forward/midfielder,” Sanderson said.

“He’s really good at setting players up and can hit the scoreboard himself. We look forward to him developing. He’s not tall, but he marks the ball well overhead.

“People who work closely with the (Woodville-West Torrens) Eagles really like this kid.”

Sanderson said he was thrilled with the Club’s net result after a trying two years at the draft.

“This is a massive win for the Club,” he said.

“We gauge the immediate response by social media and we’re getting so much great feedback from our fans about how rapt they are to have this young player, Matt Crouch, come into our football club and Riley Knight too. They don’t know as much about Riley yet, but he’s going to be exciting for us.

“We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure we brought two, good young players into our group.”

And on the subject of the party at his house?

“There’s no way my place is going to be big enough.”