Daniel Curtin locked in for AFL debut in Showdown clash between Adelaide and Port Adelaide

WA’s top pick at last year’s draft is set for a baptism of fire on debut, with Daniel Curtin confirmed to line up for Adelaide in Thursday night’s Showdown clash against cross-town rival Port Adelaide.

In an emotion-charged week for the Crows off the back of Rory Sloane’s retirement and with a crunch clash looming against the Power, Curtin will be entrusted with helping steer Adelaide’s defence as the 2-5 side looks to resurrect its flagging season.

Claremont product Curtin was the first of four West Aussies to have his name called out in the first round of last year’s draft at Pick 8, yet will be the last of that bunch to debut.

Lance Collard (St Kilda), Koltyn Tholstrup (Melbourne) and Riley Hardeman (North Melbourne) have each had a taste of senior action in the first two months of the AFL season.

Curtin was rewarded for a superb game at SANFL level last weekend, where he racked up 31 disposals for the Crows’ reserves side.

The 19-year-old will be looking to become the first player to taste victory in a Showdown debut for almost a decade, with Rory Atkins the most recent in 2015.

Adelaide’s task of pulling off an upset against the 5-2 Power was made tougher on Tuesday with the news that Port skipper Connor Rozee is set to be passed fit to play.

Rozee made an early exit from last week’s win over St Kilda with a hamstring issue.

“Rozee was rested in the last quarter of Friday’s win over St Kilda as a precaution, with scans on Saturday showing a minor hamstring issue,” the Power said in their injury report. “The 24-year-old has since tested well and has been pain free over the last few days.”

But Crows captain Jordan Dawson is confident in Curtin’s ability to handle the big occasions.

“I think he will handle it (the Showdown) really well, he’s been in the limelight for the last few years around being a top draft pick, so he’s had that extra pressure before he plays his first game,” he said.

“I feel like he is definitely built for these types of games and I’m really excited to see what he can bring.

“To see him do it in the SANFL at such a high-level, I think that he will complement our backline and our group as a whole very well at AFL level.”

Port will be without star defender Aliir Aliir (concussion) and forward Sam Powell-Pepper (ACL) on Thursday night.

More to come