Rory Sloane has joined elite company in winning multiple Crows Club Champion awards.
Sloane, who also claimed the gold jacket in 2013, edged out Eddie Betts to claim his second Malcolm Blight Medal at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Friday night.
The influential midfielder follows greats Andrew McLeod, Mark Ricciuto and Simon Goodwin (three), and Ben Hart and Scott Thompson (two) in earning the Club’s highest individual honour on more than one occasion.
Sloane, 26, moved ahead of early leader Betts in Round Eight and was never headed. The top three didn’t change from that point on, with Betts holding firm in second spot and fellow forward Tom Lynch fixed in third. Sloane (268) finished 19 votes clear of Betts (249), while Lynch was the only other player to poll in excess of 200 votes (215).
"This group we have at the moment is so young and driven and that gets me so excited for the years to come," Sloane said on accepting the award.
"It certainly burns inside us how we played on the weekend against Sydney.
"We had a great year and we definitely improved, but we know we've got a long way to go.
"We're not going to rest until we win a flag."
It capped off an individually brilliant season for Sloane, who collected a swag of awards in 2016.
The respected onballer earned All-Australian selection for the first time and his leadership was also recognised, named vice-captain of the star-studded team.
In addition, he finished runner-up in the AFL Coaches’ Association Champion Player of the Year, as well as the peer-voted AFL Players’ Association MVP award.
On Friday night, Sloane also received the Chelsea Phillis Coaches’ Award and member-voted 19th Man Award – both for the third time.
Sloane, who only missed one game through suspension, averaged a career-high 25.2 possessions, five clearances and seven tackles this year.
A tireless worker both offensively and defensively, Sloane was the No.1 ranked player in the AFL for pressure acts and applied the third-most tackles.
The popular Crow was also top 10 in the League for contested possessions and score involvements after the second week of the finals series. He finished the season ranked No.2 at Adelaide for disposals, clearances and inside 50ms.
Betts, 29, has featured in the top 10 in each of his three seasons at the Club. The two-time All Australian secured his best finish to-date on Friday night, improving on his third-placing last year. It was also Lynch’s highest placing in his five seasons with the Crows.
Promising midfielder Matt Crouch (seventh) and consistent defender Kyle Hartigan (eight) secured the first top-10 finishes of their budding careers.
Sloane, Betts and reliable backman Kyle Cheney were the only players to poll votes in every game they played.
No player received the maximum 20 votes in a game – the highest was 19 votes on six different occasions. In a slight change to the voting system this season, five coaches cast votes on a 4, 3, 2, 1 basis after every game.
Betts was a regular on stage at the Adelaide Convention Centre, taking out the Phil Walsh Best Team Man Award and Leading Goalkicker. Second-year defender Jake Lever received the Mark Bickley Award for Emerging Talent, while Hartigan and Cameron shared the Crows Children’s Foundation Community Leadership Award.
Promoted rookie Jono Beech was crowned State League Club Champion, and development player Luke Carey was recognised with the Dean Bailey Award.
Wingman David Mackay, who also claimed the Dr Brian Sando OAM Trophy, was awarded Life Membership of the Club along with John Condon and Adrian Sutter.
2016 Crows Club Champion top 10
Rory Sloane – 268
Eddie Betts – 249
Tom Lynch – 215
Daniel Talia – 192
Taylor Walker – 185
Brodie Smith – 183
Matt Crouch – 180
Kyle Hartigan – 173
Charlie Cameron – 168
Josh Jenkins – 167
Club Champion Voting Protocol
1 vote: Played their role. Solid game without significant influence on the game
2 votes: Played his role well and influenced the game
3 votes: Played his role very well with significant influence on the game
4 votes: Played his role outstandingly and dominated the game
