Thompson, 24, will co-captain SANFL outfit Woodville-West Torrens, having signed with the club in December following his delisting by Adelaide.

The apprentice electrician played 20 matches in four seasons with the Crows before being one of seven players cut last year.

He had hopes of being picked up in the draft — most likely as a rookie — but had little hesitation signing with Woodville-West Torrens after missing out.

Thompson said the decision to head to Woodville Oval was easy. The Eagles were his SANFL-aligned club in his first four AFL seasons.

“The Eagles were the club I got drafted to in the mini-draft when I came to Adelaide. I’ve got a fair few good relationships there,” he said.

“I feel like I know them quite a bit. The last five years they’ve been good to me. It was an easy transition going from Adelaide to Woodville-West Torrens.”

Thompson, selected with pick 17 in the 2009 rookie draft, said getting delisted by Adelaide was “a bit disappointing”.

But he has come to terms with the decision and harbours no ill feelings. An ankle injury plagued much of his early years at the club.

He managed 11 matches in 2011 but featured just three times — including twice in finals — in 2012.

“Waking up in the morning and getting out of bed, the ankle was that stiff. I could hardly walk down the stairs without hobbling until it warmed up,” he said.

Surgery followed but, with only a limited pre-season under his belt, he failed to play a match in 2013. Last season yielded six further appearances.

“I rang up the Eagles while I was still a chance to get drafted and said ‘can I train out there. I want to train at a high level’,” he said.

“They let me train and I was doing my own running. I trained harder than I’ve ever trained in the off-season.”

The drafts went by without his name being called out. But Thompson was OK with that. He committed to the Eagles and has relished the summer.

“I think when a few people do come out of the AFL system, it’s a massive shock, they don’t have a lot to come out to,” he said.

“They don’t want to play footy anywhere else and have a bad year. As long as I’m playing my role for the Eagles, showing good leadership and helping them out, that’s going to be the best thing for my future.”

He has ambitions to play AFL again, but is not letting them dictate how he goes about his football.

“At the moment, the thing I want to do is do well at the Eagles.”

Thompson will co-captain Woodville-West Torrens with Patrick Giuffreda, having taken over from retired veteran Luke Powell.