WHEN you rack up 51 disposals, you know you have had a fair bit of the ball,  but even Scott Thompson admits to being shocked when the exact number of his possessions was revealed to him in the aftermath of Adelaide's demolition of the Suns.

Thompson had no idea how close he had come to dual-Brownlow medallist Greg Williams' possession record of 53 until he was corralled by the press for an interview after the game.

"I spoke to Leigh Colbert after the game and he filled me in with how many touches I had and I was a bit surprised. I didn't believe him at first," Thompson said.

Thompson had 21 kicks and 30 handballs for the match, as well as seven hard-ball gets, four marks and four inside 50s.

His tally is the second highest in AFL history (since disposals were first recorded), surpassing Tony Shaw's 50 touches against Brisbane in 1991.

It is not the first time Thompson, who coach Mark Bickley said was underrated outside South Australia, has recorded a large tally of possessions this year.

He had 40 against Fremantle in round three, 38 against the Lions in round 20 and 37 against Essendon in round 17, to be in the top five in the competition for disposals in 2011.

Those statistics, and Thompson's elevation to the leadership group, have led Bickley to call for his inclusion in the All Australian side this year.

Thompson is equally enamoured with the interim Adelaide coach, who is hoping to keep the job after 2011.

"He has been good. The hard thing is he has landed the job unexpectedly with the way [former Crows coach] Neil [Craig] departed the club," he said.

"It was sad the way Neil ended up but in saying that it is always nice to get a fresh voice and that is what it has been good over the past month, a slightly different message, and he has definitely done himself no harm going forward.”