Several new Club records were set throughout the course of the 2016 season. Here’s an overview …
Young midfielder Matt Crouch broke protégé Scott Thompson’s record for handballs in a season. The youngest Crouch sibling fired off 359 handballs – seven more than Thompson (352) in 2009.
At 21 years of age, Crouch became the youngest and just the 10th Crow to amass in excess of 600 possessions in a single season. Thompson, who chalked up an incredible 737 possessions in 25 games in 2012, holds the Club record.
Club Champion and All-Australian vice-captain Rory Sloane broke his own tackling record. Sloane laid 163 tackles (ranked third in the AFL at the end of the home and away season) in 2016, surpassing his previous-best effort of 147 in 2014. Thompson applied 158 tackles in 22 matches this season to move into second spot.
Get a summary of the Club’s statistical leaders in 2016
Adelaide recorded its highest-scoring season in history, averaging 112.8 points per game. The Club’s previous-best was 106.3 points per game in 1993 when Tony Modra kicked a Club record 129 goals to help guide the Crows to a Preliminary Final. Adelaide also reached a Preliminary Final with its third-highest average score of 105.7 points in 2012.
Two-time All Australian Eddie Betts became only the second Crow behind Modra to kick more than 70 goals in a single season. Betts finished with 75 goals at the end of Adelaide’s finals campaign.
Betts joined premiership hero Darren Jarman in claiming a third leading goalkicking crown at Adelaide. Only Modra (five) and spearhead Scott Welsh (four) have won the Club’s leading goalkicker award on more occasions.
Betts is now ranked ninth all-time in Adelaide’s goalkicking, with a remarkable 189 goals from 69 games. Captain Taylor Walker, who kicked his 300th AFL career goal during the finals series, moved into outright second spot (303) behind childhood hero Modra (440).
Walker took 43 contested marks this season. Only former Crow and current Sydney Swans ruckman Kurt Tippett has taken more contested marks for the Club in a single season (44 and 50).
Fellow forward Josh Jenkins equalled the Club record for most marks inside 50m with nine against St Kilda at Adelaide Oval in Round 11. Walker and Welsh are the other Crows to have achieved the feat.
At the opposite end of the ground, defender Daniel Talia broke his own record for one-percenters in a match. Talia was credited with 17 one-percenters against Carlton in Round 16, bettering his previous best of 16 against Gold Coast in 2014.
The dual All Australian also broke his own record for one-percenters in a season (214) shattering his old mark of 153 in 2012.
The Crows hosted their first-ever final at Adelaide Oval this season – an Elimination Final win over North Melbourne.
The Club broke its all-time membership record, passing 64,000 members for the first time. The record, which was achieved 12 rounds into the 2016 season, surpassed the 2015 benchmark of 63,038.
Adelaide also reclaimed the crown for highest home game attendance in the AFL. More than 500,000 fans went through the turnstiles to watch the Crows in 11 home matches. The Club’s average home crowd of just below 47,000 was the largest achieved by any club across any sporting code in Australia.
