The 2024

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

season was the club's 34th season of senior competition in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). It was the Crows' second season captained by

Jordan Dawson Jordan Dawson (born 9 April 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Sydney Swans from 2016 to 2021. In 2023, Dawson was n ...

and their fifth year coached by

Matthew Nicks Matthew Nicks (born 13 May 1975) is a former professional Australian Football League player and currently the senior coach of the Adelaide Football Club. He was recruited from the West Adelaide Football Club to the Sydney Swans with the 21st se ...

. The senior men's season, held between March 16 and August 24, finished with only 8 wins from 23 matches, with the team failing to qualify for finals. The women's side played their ninth season in the

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, for the first time under co-captains

Sarah Allan Sarah Allan (; born 1945) is an American paleographer and scholar of ancient China. She was a Burlington Northern Foundation Professor of Asian Studies in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures at Dartmouth College ...

and

Ebony Marinoff Ebony Marinoff (born 15 November 1997) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club#AFL Women's team, Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She is a three-time List of AFL Women's premiers, AFL Women's pr ...

. The Crows won 8 of their 11 matches, but lost a preliminary final for the third consecutive year. The reserves side played their tenth season in the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

in 2024, and their first captained by

Jack Madgen Jack Madgen (born 25 April 1993) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played professional basketball for the Cairns Taipans in the National Basketball League ...

. After 8 wins, the SANFL side narrowly missed out on finals only a year after consecutive preliminary finals exits.

Overview

Men's squad

Coaching staff

Squad changes

The following off-season changes were made to the squad prior to the 2024 season.

Out

In

Men's AFL season

Pre-season matches

Regular season

Round 1

Adelaide lost their first game of the

2024 AFL season The 2024 AFL season was the 128th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season featured 18 clubs and ran from 7 March to 28 September, comprising ...

to by 6 points in wet weather conditions. Gold Coast led for the entire match and Adelaide looked very poor, until a late fourth-quarter comeback spearheaded by

Josh Rachele Joshua Rachele ( ; born 11 April 2003) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected by the Adelaide Crows with their first pick, the sixth overall, in t ...

and former Sun

Izak Rankine Izak Rankine (born 23 April 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously been drafted to the Gold Coast Suns with pick 3 in the 2018 AFL ...

gave the Crows a glimpse of hope.

Chris Burgess Chris Burgess (born 23 April 1979) is an American basketball coach who is currently serving as an assistant coach of the Brigham Young University (BYU) men's basketball team. Burgess has held assistant coaching roles at three universities in Ut ...

played his first game for the club after being traded from Gold Coast to Adelaide in the 2023 trade period.

Round 2

Round 2 marked Adelaide's first game scheduled on a Friday in almost two years. Adelaide came into this game as favourites, despite losing their opening game and winning theirs. However, Adelaide lost by 19 points with another late comeback falling short due to wasted chances in front of goal.

Round 3

This was Adelaide's first time playing against Fremantle in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Competitive for most of the game, Adelaide were overrun in the final quarter to lose by 35 points.

Round 4

For the second consecutive year, Adelaide hosted the opening game of

Gather Round Gather Round is an annual Australian Football League event in which all games in one home-and-away round are played in a single city and its surrounds. The event was first held in 2023 in Adelaide, South Australia, which will host the round each y ...

, this time hosting . The final margin of 15 points was flattering to the Crows, who were comprehensively defeated across the ground thanks to former Crow

Simon Goodwin Simon Goodwin (born 26 December 1976) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He has been the senior coach of the Melbourne Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) since 2017. As a player, Goodwin tallied 275 AF ...

's coaching.

Christian Petracca Christian Petracca ( ; born 4 January 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, tall and weighing , Petracca has the ability to play dual- ...

was the best player on the ground, while young Jake Soligo was impressive for Adelaide.

Round 5

Adelaide won their first game of the season in round 5, largely credited to

and the variety in his

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

, rotating players such as

and

Rory Laird Rory Laird (born 29 December 1993) is a professional Australian rules football player who plays for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Adelaide with pick 5 in the 2012 Rookie Draft. Early life ...

out and Jake Soligo and

in.

Lachlan Gollant Lachlan Gollant (born 12 September 2001) is an Australian rules footballer who currently plays for the Williamstown Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He previously played for in the Australian Football League (AFL) after bein ...

was substituted off for the fourth quarter and replaced by Sam Berry, who kicked the winning goal with just over a minute of regulation time remaining. This was Adelaide's first win in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

since

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Round 6

For the third time in less than a year, a late non-decision from the umpires cost Adelaide a chance at winning the game (the first against , and the second most famously against ). The morning following the game, the AFL conceded that a free kick should have been awarded to Taylor Walker for a tackle laid on

Sam Draper Sam Draper (born 28 September 1998) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited with the 1st draft pick in the 2017 AFL rookie draft. Early life Draper w ...

, giving Walker a chance to kick a goal after the siren and win the game. Walker acknowledged that the umpiring decision was frustrating, but also concedes that the Crows' performance was "unacceptable".

Round 7

Round 8

Draftee

Dan Curtin Daniel James Curtin (14 February 1898 – 4 December 1980) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he was educated at a Catholic primary school before becoming a boilermaker and organiser of the Boilermakers' Society. In 1949, he was pre ...

made his long-awaited AFL debut, while

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

and Butts returned from injury. Prior to the game, the all-time Showdown record was tied at 27 apiece. The game commemorated

Rory Sloane Rory Brandon Sloane (born 17 March 1990) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Sloane is a dual Malcolm Blight Medallist, was selected in the All ...

, who had announced his retirement earlier in the week. Adelaide's home attendance of 52,106 was their biggest home attendance since

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Round 9

The last three minutes were played with scores level, and the game ended in a draw — the second of the

. It was Adelaide's first draw since

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

(which was against at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

), their first at home, and the third in their history. It was Brisbane's first since

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Round 10

, who designed the Indigenous guernsey worn, starred with 30 disposals and a late goal of the year contender dribbled from the boundary, but a

Jordan De Goey Jordan De Goey (born 15 March 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). State football De Goey played his junior football with the Ashburton United ...

set shot was the winning score for . With less than 30 seconds left, Rankine kicked the ball inside the forward 50, but was pinged for running too far. Controversy stirred as fans began to think it was the fourth game-costing decision in less than a year, but

Fox Footy Fox Footy (stylised as FOX FOOTY) is an Australian rules football subscription television channel dedicated to screening Australian rules football matches and related programming. It is owned by Fox Sports Australia operated out of its Melbou ...

measured that Rankine did indeed run farther than his allocated 15 meters.

Round 11

Kuwarna dominated this match, and despite the effort and talent of number-one draft pick

Harley Reid Harley Reid (born 17 April 2005) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected as the number-one pick in the 2023 AFL draft. Junior career Reid grew ...

, Kuwarna dominated until the final siren, falling short of a 100-point margin by mere seconds.

Round 12

kicked the first four goals of the game, and the Crows were not able to regain a lead, extending their winless streak at the

(starting in 2017 and spanning nine games) until at least 2025.

described the loss as "as bad as we've played all year".

Round 13

Debutant Billy Dowling, James Borlase, and Strachan all kicked their first AFL goals, but five goals in a row for the 17th- seeded Richmond in the third quarter was too much to overcome. The performance resulted in heavy scrutiny towards

and the entire club.

Leigh Montagna Leigh “Joey” Montagna (; born 2 November 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A two time All-Australian, Montagna finished his career 7 ...

agreed with coach

Nicks Nix (or Nicks) is a surname of English origin, which initially indicated that the person so named was the child of a person named Nicholas, traditionally shortened to "Nick". It is therefore closely related to Nixon and Nickson, which are derive ...

' comments that the Crow's performance was "clearly lacking confident after a disappointing showing."

Round 14

Joel Amartey Joel Amartey (born 2 September 1999) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL) after the St. Kilda saints chose not to match an NGA bid on him. He was recruited by the Sydney Swans ...

of the Swans, whose previous best goal tally was four, kicked four in the second quarter to keep the Swans in the contest going into half time. He kicked another four in the third quarter, effectively leaving Adelaide behind in the contest. Amartey finished with a career-best nine goals, the most any player had kicked in a game up to that point in the season.

Round 15

''Bye''

Round 16

Following the mid-season bye, coach Nicks was confident for the clash against bogey-team , who the Crows had only beaten once up to this point of Nicks' four-year tenure. When defender

Chayce Jones Chayce Jones (born 14 January 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the Adelaide Crows with their first selection and nint ...

suffered an injury at training the day before the game, a late change was made to include

Zac Taylor Zachary William Taylor (born May 10, 1983) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. Beginning his NFL career as an offensive assistant, Taylor was the quarterba ...

in the game day squad for his debut. He was the substitute, and came on for Brayden Cook at three-quarter-time.

Round 17

An incident involving

and Brandon Starcevich of the in the first quarter resulted in a concussion to Starcevich and a four-match ban to Rankine. Adelaide fell short despite a late charge, resulting in another close finish between the two clubs.

Round 18

Adelaide stormed home on a rainy Adelaide night over , who scored just one goal in the second half. Riley Thilthorpe, in his first game since being injured pre-season, kicked two final-quarter goals to seal the game.

Round 19

kicked his first AFL goal as one of eight consecutive second-quarter goals for Adelaide. Essendon responded with the next five goals in a high-scoring affair.

Ben Keays Ben Keays (born 23 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). His great-grandfather Fred Keays represented both and in the Victorian Football L ...

, who kicked a career-best five goals, assisted

in kicking a last-minute goal to lead by four points. Adelaide won by two points in an upset victory to keep their slim hopes for finals qualification alive.

Round 20

Round 21

Round 22

Round 23

Round 24

Ladder

Mens' summary

Awards and Milestones

AFL Awards

* 2024 22under22 team –

Jim Stynes James Peter Stynes OAM (23 April 196620 March 2012) was an Irish footballer who converted from Gaelic football to Australian rules football and the first international player to be inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2003. ...

Community Leadership Award –

Reilly O'Brien Reilly O'Brien (born 20 August 1995) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A Malcolm Blight Medal winner in 2020 AFL season, 2020, he is currently Adelaide's first-cho ...

AFL Award nominations

* AFLPA MVP Nominees –

* AFLPA Best First-Year Player Nominee –

* AFLPA Best Captain Nominee –

* AFLPA Most Courageous Player Nominee – Max Michalanney * 2024 AFL Rising Star Nomination –

Luke Nankervis Luke Nankervis (born 25 May 2003) is a professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Crows in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early career Luke Nankervis played eight games for Sandringham in 2021, kicking four goa ...

(Round 13) * 2024 22under22 44 man squad – Max Michalanney * 2024 22under22 44 man squad – Jake Soligo

Milestones

Debuts * Round 1:

(club debut) * Round 8:

Daniel Curtin Daniel Curtin may refer to: * Dan Curtin Daniel James Curtin (14 February 1898 – 4 December 1980) was an Australian politician. Born in Sydney, he was educated at a Catholic primary school before becoming a boilermaker and organiser of the ...

(AFL debut) * Round 13: Billy Dowling (AFL debut) * Round 16:

(AFL debut) * Round 18 – Hugh Bond (AFL debut) Games * Round 2:

Lachlan Murphy Lachlan Murphy (born 4 December 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by Adelaide with their third selection and thirty-eighth overall i ...

(100 games) * Round 3: Brodie Smith (250 games) * Round 5:

(50 club games) * Round 7: Mitch Hinge (50 career games) * Round 8: Matt Crouch (150 games) * Round 13: Jake Soligo (50 games) * Round 17: Sam Berry (50 games) * Round 17:

(50 games) * Round 18: Nick Murray (50 games) * Round 18:

(100 club games) * Round 21: Riley Thilthorpe (50 games) * Round 20:

Elliott Himmelberg Elliott Himmelberg (born 4 June 1998) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for . Himmelberg is the younger brother of player Harry. Earl ...

(50 games) * Round 22: Darcy Fogarty (100 games) Goals * Round 5:

(100 career goals) * Round 9:

(50 goals) * Round 19: Darcy Fogarty (150 goals) * Round 21: Riley Thilthorpe (50 goals)

Women's squad

''Updated to preliminary final vs , 2024 (24 November)'' Bold: 2024 games and goals leaders

Coaching staff

Squad changes

The following off-season changes were made to the squad prior to the 2024 season.

Out

In

Women's AFLW season

Pre-season matches

Regular season

Ladder

Finals

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Reserves squad

''Excludes AFL-listed players. Updated as of round 17, 2024.''

Reserves SANFL season

Regular season

SANFL fixtureCrowd numbers

References

External links

Official Website
of the Adelaide Football Club
Official Website
of the Australian Football League {{2024 AFL Women's season Adelaide Football Club seasons Adelaide Football Club season Adelaide Football Club season

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...