WHILE his Woodville-West Torrens teammates prepared for the biggest game of their lives, Bernie Vince was being prepared for season-ending knee surgery.

With Adelaide out of the 2006 finals race the young Crow was faced with a heart-breaking decision – fitness or a SANFL flag?

“I sat down with [Crows development coach] Alan Stewart and we looked at the bigger picture, which was that I wanted to be in tip-top condition for this year, so we went ahead with the operation and got it out of the way,” Vince said.

“It was disappointing to miss the [SANFL] Grand Final, especially with the Eagles winning the premiership. It would have been good to be involved in that.”

After being drafted at the end of 2005, Vince made his AFL debut against Collingwood in round one last year.

The small forward played four games for the Crows before returning to the SANFL and suffering a niggling knee injury.

“It was a bit frustrating because both teams were going to be in the finals and I was trying to play the best footy I could so I was able to play finals for at least one of the sides.”

The 21-year-old spent most of the summer recuperating and didn’t join the main group until mid-February.

Now with the premiership season in sight Vince is putting in overtime on the track in a bid to be fully fit for round one.

“Once I got back (training) I had to do a heap of extra work to improve my fitness. I’m still doing extra now on my days off to catch up to the other guys, but I’m almost there.”

In his second year at West Lakes, Vince is again part of the ‘Crushers’ group, which is comprised of the Crows first- and second-year players.

With fellow Crusher Richard Douglas and other young guns Jonathon Griffin and Chris Knights impressing over the pre-season, Vince knows the competition for spots will be tough.

“I’d like to play as many games as I can for the Adelaide footy club this year. In order to do that, with the pressure for selection, it might mean going back to the Eagles and pushing my way into the side. Once I’m in the team I know I need to perform at that level to keep my spot.”

In each of his AFL appearances, Vince has featured in the Crows forward line, kicking four goals in last year’s NAB Cup competition.

While the Crows’ No.28 will start up forward again in 2007, assistant coach David Noble thinks Vince has a future downfield.

“Bernie’s a surprisingly good mark for his size and has that flexibility like the Burtons and the Welshes where he can play either as a marking forward option or as a crumbing player,” Noble said.

“He also has really clean hands and a good understanding of where people are around him in traffic so we think he’s got the potential to eventually move into the midfield.”

With his first game and a year with the club under his belt, Vince has a better idea of what is required at AFL level.

But being a country lad from the Yorke Peninsula, the transition to full-time footy hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

“To start with I really didn’t know what it took to be an AFL footballer, to be honest,” he said.

“You walk into the club, then you're in a locker room with Mark Ricciuto, Simon Goodwin and these guys and it’s all a bit of a blur.”

“A big thing for me was leaving my mates at home. The number of 21st birthdays I haven’t been able to go to has been a bit hard.

“But once you look at the big picture I’d rather be away from home and doing this. A lot of people would kill to be in my position, so it was a pretty easy choice in the end.”

But as the saying goes, you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy.

Outside of footy, the laid-back Vince enjoys nothing more than heading home to Stansbury for a spot of fishing or a hit of cricket with his mates.

“I get over there as much as I can, just to get away back to the farm and relax a little bit.

“It just gets a bit hectic over here in Adelaide all the time. I’m actually heading home this weekend. The cricket final is on so hopefully the boys get up - we’re going for four in a row this year.”