The Gold Coast Suns will unleash prized youngster Izak Rankine in this weekend's clash against Melbourne, the club announced.
The former Pick 3 has battled a series of hamstring injuries dating back to last year but now gets the opportunity to play his first AFL game.
The youngster was thrilled to simply get back on the park.
“I’m just excited, I’m just keen to be back out playing footy again,” Rankine told Suns Media.
“I’m 10/10 excited, I love footy, I’ve always wanted to play footy, and to play AFL Footy has always been my dream.”
Rankine received the good news after the club's main training session last night in Wollongong in front of his teammates.
“It was a pretty good feeling to finally hear that I’ll be playing this weekend.”
“Stuey got all the boys together and just explained how happy he was to finally dust off that magnet and slide it across into the team.”
The 20-year old expects to play a forward pressure role against Melbourne.
“I’m sure we’ll get into it some more, but Stuey said he was just excited to see me out there, finally playing footy”
“I think they’ll just look for that pressure, consistently offering pressure and taking a few blokes down and playing my role for the team.”
Rankine was taken one pick after fellow South Australian Jack Lukosius in the 2018 AFL draft.
In other selection news at Gold Coast, midfielder Brayden Fiorini is expected to be recalled following Matt Rowell's shoulder injury.
The Suns face the Demons at Giants Stadium on Saturday night at 6.05pm (AEST).
