Adelaide forward/midfielder Josh Rachele says a switch up in mindset to remain focused has been a big area of growth for him this pre-season.

And the 20-year-old hopes the mindset shift will be the key to taking his game to the next level in 2024.

Speaking to the media, Rachele credits working with new Crows Performance Psychologist Rosie Stanimirovic for the change, saying she has given him plenty of tools to improve.

Rachele said Stanimirovic’s experience with professional athletes, having previously worked with the Australian Institute of Sport, GWS and attended three Olympic Games with the Australian Sailing Team, would serve the Crows well in 2024 and beyond.

“She (Stanimirovic) has been great for me, I worked with her pretty closely at the start of pre-season seeing a few little things to help me switch my mindset throughout games,” Rachele said.

“It’s pretty impossible to be focused for the 120 minutes of an AFL game, but I’m looking to be able to do that as consistently as possible which has been a big thing for me.

“She has worked closely with the whole team and we’ve done some regular sessions with her.”

As he prepared to enter his third AFL season, Rachele said this pre-season had been his strongest yet, as he had completed his biggest block of training since arriving at West Lakes.

“I got through every single training session, so that was the main goal,” Rachele said.

“In your first year you get in and out of a lot of drills and your workload is not as high as the other players in the team.

“Second year I still had a little bit of hip issues, so this was my first full pre-season.

“(I’ve) had a great off-season with a lot of the boys, as you see we’ve got a lot of guys pushing for spots at the moment so the team is looking really good.”

Now, with a full pre-season under his belt, Rachele said he was keen to be a consistent performer each week, taking inspiration from the Club’s leaders about how to develop as a footballer.

“My goal this year is just to be a consistent footballer, I think that I have shown that I can play at the level,” the youngster said.

“For me this year is just about the little things, so being on top of all my recovery and diet, that is something that probably wasn’t at the 100 per cent level that I could have done the last couple of years.

“You see the likes of Lairdy and Dawson and these consistent guys and being able to pick their brains has been massive for a lot of us younger guys' development, and I think it is something that we all want to incorporate into our games to be consistent AFL players.”