RANKINE ‘LIKE 300 GAMER’ IN SUNS DEBUT

IZAK Rankine’s stunning three-goal AFL debut on Saturday night is being described as one of the best by greats of the game.

The 2018 No. 3 draft pick picked up 12 disposals, two clearances and kicked 3.3 in Gold Coast’s 17-point loss to Melbourne.

On Fox Footy, triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown described Rankine’s performance as “exciting a debut as I’ve ever seen”, while Demons champion Garry Lyon said the 20-year-old had “played like a 300-gamer”.

Kane Cornes, on the AFL’s The Round So Far said Rankine had “shades of Wanganeen” and AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan tweeted that the South Australian would likely join 2018’s No. 1 draft pick Sam Walsh as a future AFL star.

But none of this has surprised SA’s under-18s coach, Tony Bamford, who coached Rankine at three national championships.

“His lateral movement that we saw, the X-factor he had, we saw all that every week when he was under-18, even under-17 to be honest,” Bamford said.

Rankine was unable to debut in 2019 (alongside fellow South Australian and the Sun’s 2018 No. 2 pick Jack Lukosius) because of persistent hamstring and hip injuries and Bamford said that would have been tough for the youngster.

“H “He’s so driven and so internally competitive and he hates missing football, so that would have been a real test for him off-field,” he said.

“It would have been a relief for him when he got out there and it’s almost like he’s been able to express himself in a game of football again.”

In 2016, Rankine debuted as a 16-year-old in the SANFL for West Adelaide, and thenBloods coach Mark Mickan, described his AFL debut as “mercurial”.

“He’s got that in him to produce that sort of football … he’ll be one that people will come to watch him play, not just because of what he did yesterday, but the way he plays, he takes the game on and takes the opposition on and he’s very exciting to watch,” Mickan said.

Bamford said Rankine’s confidence stood out.

“But it’s nowhere near arrogant, it’s just self belief … he has an internal, burning desire to compete.

“He’s made for the AFL and he’ll make the AFL a better product when he gets more games under his belt.

“Last night, we saw how dangerous he could be in the forward third of the oval, in and around goal, how creative he is … But if he gets more confidence, more match fitness, and maybe a few extra kilos, I think he can take his game into the midfield.

“(Saturday) night was just the top of the iceberg, he has a lot more of his game to show us.”