WE MIGHT be witnessing the rise of the AFL's next genuine superstar.

Josh Rachele has become a midfielder in 2026 and, in doing so, has started to fulfil that lofty potential that has followed him since his draft year.

Adelaide's X-factor is the type of forward-half midfielder that every club craves, the type that can win his own footy in dangerous spots and have an elite scoring impact while still being able to run, spread and cover from the contest.

In Thursday night's Gather Round opener, Rachele had the best performance of his career to date. He finished with 26 disposals, kicked four first-half goals, and won 13 contested possessions, six clearances, five tackles, six inside-50s, seven score involvements and five intercepts.

It was the result of Matthew Nicks entrusting Rachele with more midfield minutes this season. Champion Data notes his mid-forward splits have risen from 10-90 in 2025, to 68-32 this year. Meanwhile, his centre bounce involvements have increased from 1.6 per game last season, to 14.4 per game this year.

"We've been pleased with what he's brought," Nicks said afterwards.

"Josh is still working on the midfield part, but it's getting better and better every week. If you go back to Geelong, he had an outstanding game. It was probably one of his best that we've seen. He was not his best last week, so we went to work on a few areas. But he came out and did it again. He's a student of the game. He's a pro.

"There's still work-ons. This might be me as a coach trying to keep it level, because I want to keep Josh a bit level, but he is a weapon if we get things right around him and give him a chance to win the ball. But he's still got so much that he can improve on. We're pleased to see he's doing some really good stuff in the midfield."

Rachele's class was reflected in his four goals. His first was an elite crumb and snap from deep inside the pocket, before a clean pickup resulted in another from virtually the same spot moments later. He guided through a third from 50m on the run, before an opportunistic finish gave him a fourth early in the second term.

"He's just got a knack for popping up in the right spot," Adelaide veteran Rory Laird told AFL.com.au after the match.

"It's just a natural talent thing. I've played a lot of footy and there's no way I'd be able to do that, only a few special players can. Between him and Izak [Rankine], we've got a lot of forward firepower. But the thing is, we've got to get it to them."

While there's no doubting Rachele's skill, he also has the grunt not necessarily associated with such luxury players. As well as averaging 23.6 disposals, 1.8 goals, 4.8 clearances and four tackles per game this season, the youngster has also soared into the top 20 in the competition for contested possessions.

It's a telling sign that the 23-year-old, now five seasons and 75 games into his AFL career, is maturing into a consistent and reliable midfield option for the Crows.

Nicks challenged Rachele to add that consistency to his game after the match – he'd won a career-high 31 disposals and seven clearances against Geelong earlier this season, but followed it with a quiet performance against Fremantle the following week – but there's no doubting Adelaide's former No.6 draft pick is on his way to stardom.

Whether the Crows now throw him forward more often than they have been, or continue using him predominantly as a midfielder for the remainder of the season, Rachele appears as though he'll impact the game in the right areas.

"It's a big workload, playing as that inside midfielder. It's a very combative position," Laird said.

"If we can spin him through there in spurts and still play him forward, like we did [on Thursday night], it keeps him fresh.

"When he's able to explode and get his power into the contest, as you saw that's where he's the most dangerous. It's a bit of a mix, but you want him inside and you want him up forward. You can't have him in two places at once, but it's definitely a good problem to have."