South Warrnambool export Jay Rantall to play in 2022 SANFL grand final for Norwood

Redlegs midfield coach Stephen Carr said the South Warrnambool export had found a balance between offence and defence which would be crucial against North Adelaide in Sunday's SANFL grand final.

Rantall, 21, will play a wing-inside midfield role for the Redlegs in front of 40,000 fans at Adelaide Oval.

Carr, who hails from Colac, told The Standard the former AFL footballer - Rantall played five games for Collingwood across two seasons - would take a purple patch of form into the decider.

He said he was proud of Rantall's ability to fine-tune his game.

"His last six weeks have been outstanding," Carr said.

"He's starting to play the way I want him to in the midfield with defence and offence.

"He's got a really good balance with that now and I am really proud of him because he's had to work hard for it this year."

Rantall is encouraged to use his endurance in the grand final.

"I want him to really explode this weekend because I think he likes the big stage and big crowds and if he can play to his potential it will go a long way to us winning the game," he said.

The Redlegs' style required Rantall to tweak areas of his game.

"What we love with Jay is he's now learning to defend first," Carr said.

"His weapon is that his contest-to-contest running is elite... and he's learned how to defend first and negate his opponent and now we're seeing with his offence that they can't go with him.

"It wasn't about having 30 (disposals) every week - I am happy with him getting 18 and having a massive impact when he's got the ball."

Carr said he was pleased to see Rantall, who is working in the personal training field, add to his repertoire in his first SANFL season.

The experienced mentor said the former Australian junior basketballer had to adjust to differences - on and off the field - between the state and national competitions.

"He's a terrific individual. He struggled a little bit early with the transition going from full-time to part-time," Carr said.

"A lot of players do when they come in from the AFL. You have to work and then come and train and it is hard."

Carr said it had been a challenge for Rantall and took time for him to overcome.

But he is now averaging 22.6 disposals a game at 78 per cent disposal efficiency.

"Very rarely have I seen footballers come back from the AFL and dominate the next year," Carr said.

"It usually takes 12 months or, in Jay's case, he's finding it now - how to train, how to prepare.

"It has been tough for him I have to admit early on. It's been great for him to be honest and I reckon he's learned a lot over the year."

Carr said Rantall prided himself on his preparation and was "a perfectionist".

"He's one of the hardest trainers on the track and prepares meals and does everything at home the right way," he said.

The SANFL grand final is at 3.30pm Sunday.

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