There were several diamonds uncovered by the Crows in the 1996 draft crop.
Following the dismissal of coach Robert Shaw after two years at West Lakes, Adelaide was eager for a fresh start under the leadership of Malcolm Blight heading into the 1997 season.
Simon Goodwin (No.18 1996 Pre-season Draft)
One of the great steals in Adelaide’s draft history, Goodwin somehow slipped to selection No.18 in the ’96’ Pre-season Draft.
A talented youngster in a number of sports, Goodwin earned a spot in the Club’s 1997 Round One opener against Brisbane as a 20-year-old.
Soft tissue injuries sidelined him for the next few months, but Goodwin returned in Round 14 and managed to cement a spot in the side, playing all four finals including the 1997 premiership.
Goodwin flourished in his second season notching 21 games - including 18 consecutive appearances between Round Nine and the Grand Final – to help the Crows to back-to-back flags. In his first 31 games, Goodwin added two AFL premiership medallions into his trophy cabinet.
His career went from strength-to-strength over the next decade as Goodwin became one of Adelaide’s most reliable midfielders of the 2000s. He would win three Crows Club Champion awards (2000, 2005, 2006), two Showdown Medals (2005, 2007) and an AFL Coaches Association Player of the Year (2006) award all before assuming the captaincy for three seasons from 2008.
Goodwin retired following the 2010 season after 275 games with the Crows – sixth on the all-time list at the Club.
Another pre-season draftee in Shane Ellen was another great find for the Crows. The lanky tall famously started in the forward line in Adelaide’s 1997 Grand Final win and was one of the Cinderella stories with five majors for the match.
Fellow premiership players Chad Rintoul and Andrew Eccles also made their way to West Lakes in 1996. The hard-nosed Rintoul would later move to West Coast and then Collingwood, while Eccles finished his career at Carlton.
National Draft - Adelaide 1996
No.13 – Tom Gilligan (Dandenong-Southern U18s)
No.60 – Andrew Eccles (Northern U18s)
No.69 – Chad Rintoul (East Fremantle)
No.76 – Greg Dempsey (West Adelaide)
No.86 – Ben Parker (Murray U18s)
Pre-season Draft – Adelaide 1996
No.8 – Shane Ellen (Footscray)
No.18 – Simon Goodwin (South Adelaide)
No.21 – Brendon Logan (West Perth)
1996 National Draft Top Ten
No.1 – Michael Gardiner (West Coast)
No.2 – Chris Heffernan (Essendon)
No.3 – Rory Hilton (Brisbane)
No.4 – Mark Kinnear (Sydney)
No.5 – Daniel McAlister (Essendon)
No.6 – John Rombotis (Port Adelaide)
No.7 – Bowen Lockwood (Port Adelaide)
No.8 – Leigh Brockman (Geelong)
No.9 – Mark Harwood (Port Adelaide)
No.10 – Nathan Brown (Western Bulldogs)
