Rising Port Adelaide midfielder Xavier Duursma had no hesitation in recommitting to the club.
The 21-year-old recently signed a contract extension, tying him to the side until the end of 2024.
Duursma burst onto the scene at the Power, playing 46 games in his first three seasons, though 2021 was interrupted by a knee injury.
The Gippsland native said he has found a new home in Adelaide.
“It was a bit of a relief, but it was a very easy choice in the end. I didn’t really look anywhere else,” Duursma told SEN Breakfast.
“It’s become a home here in Adelaide and I’m loving it here at Port Adelaide so it was a very easy choice for me, but it is good to get it done and I’m looking forward to hopefully having a couple of successful years.
“It’s a cliché but Adelaide is a big country town and coming from a small country town, for me I always had aspirations to play AFL footy and even if I didn’t I would’ve gone to university in Melbourne regardless.
“For me, I had to be at peace with moving away from my family even from when I was pretty young. I just had to be at peace with moving away and going to the city or going a long way from home.
“I was looking forward to the challenge of that, obviously Port Adelaide is where I was lucky enough to get drafted to and it is a quiet city and it does have its lovely scenery, it’s very easy to get around with all the traffic.
“I’m not a super busy guy, I don’t like to do too much on my day off, so it suits me pretty well.”
Duursma underwent surgery during the season after hyperextending his knee in April.
The midfielder admitted it was his first time going under the knife, which came with some trepidation.
“It was a bit of a difficult process. I’ve never had surgery before, it was the biggest injury I’ve ever had so it was very new to me,” Duursma said.
“I’ve been very lucky across my career to avoid anything too serious, but it was a good learning process for me, as much as I don’t recommend getting surgery on your knee, it was good for me to see what the rehab process was like and build some character and learn from it.
“It’s not the easiest time, there are times where you even question ‘can I get back’ and you’re really stressing and feeling not too great, but you’ve just got to get through and the fitness staff at Port Adelaide and the rest of the playing group helped me and I got back in the end.
“I started to play a few good games when I got back, it wasn’t my best form, but it is what it is and hopefully this year I can now build on it.”
He managed to return in Round 19, playing out the rest of the season including the Power’s two finals.