Brad Crouch
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Bradley Crouch (born 14 January 1994) is a former professional
Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
er who played for the
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 ...
and the
St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club's name originates fro ...
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). He was recruited by the Adelaide Football Club with the second selection in the 2011 mini-draft. He is the older brother and former teammate of Matt Crouch. Crouch and his family are from Beaufort, near Ballarat in Victoria.


AFL career


Early Adelaide career

Playing for Vic Country in the 2011 AFL Under 18 Championships, Crouch was named in the Under-18 All-Australian side as a half-back flanker. After this, he was drafted a year earlier than usual under the 2011 mini-draft rules, and was not permitted to play in 2012. Instead, he played for West Adelaide 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. ...
. However, he did get special clearance from the AFL to play one pre-season game for Adelaide against the
Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...
in Alice Springs. During the season he injured his hamstring and missed out on two months of football. Despite playing a major role in the 2013 pre-season, Crouch did not play in the Crows' first game for the season. After impressing in the SANFL, Crouch made his AFL debut in Round 2,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, against the at
the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...
. After struggling with hamstring injuries early in the season, he played the last 10 games in succession, immediately establishing himself as one of the club's premier midfielders, and winning an
AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Bu ...
nomination in round 14 after a breakout performance against which included 31 possessions and a game-high 6 tackles. He finished second in the Rising Star award to then Gold Coast youngster and current Fremantle midfielder
Jaeger O'Meara Jaeger O'Meara (born 23 February 1994) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Fremantle Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Gold Coast Suns from 2013 to 2016, and the Hawtho ...
, and also won Adelaide's Emerging Talent Award. At the end of 2013, Crouch signed a three-year contract extension, keeping him at the Crows until the end of 2016, and his brother Matt Crouch was drafted in the 2013 AFL draft to join him at the club. Crouch continued to struggle with injury over the next couple of years. In 2014 he suffered a fractured leg in the round two
Showdown A showdown is a duel. The term may also refer to: Places * Showdown Ski Area, in Montana, United States Books * ''Showdown'' (Amado novel), a 1984 novel by Jorge Amado * ''Showdown'' (Dekker novel), a 2006 novel by Ted Dekker * ''Showdown'' (F ...
, which allowed his brother Matt Crouch to make his debut the next week. The two brothers played together at senior level for the first time in the SANFL for the Crows' reserves side in Round 9 when Crouch had recovered from his latest injury. He returned to the AFL side in Round 15, coincidentally for the next Showdown, and went on to play the final nine games of the year, before a foot injury prevented him from playing a game in 2015.


2016

After Crows star
Patrick Dangerfield Patrick Dangerfield (born 5 April 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Adelaide Football Club from 2008 to 2015. He has s ...
left the club to play for , there was pressure on Crouch to help fill the void in the club's midfield in 2016, compounded by the fact that there were still question marks on whether his body would stay fit enough to play consistently. Even worse for Crouch in the pre-season, he was dropped to the reserves before the season had even begun for disciplinary reasons. He was able to make his way into the senior side for the first round and played well, but he was pulled from the side in Round 3 due to hamstring soreness. This injury forced him to stay out of the side for two weeks before he returned to the reserves side with an impressive 36 possessions and 10 clearances. He returned to the AFL for the Crows' Round 7 clash with the , but was dropped from the side again two weeks later. His form improved over the next month in the reserves and he forced his way back into the side in Round 14. He again recaptured his best form towards the end of the season, playing the final 12 games during which he averaged 25 disposals. Despite speculation during the season that Crouch would reject new contract offers from Adelaide and ask for a trade to another club, he accepted a four-year extension worth approximately $2.4 million towards the end of the season, keeping him at the club until 2020.


2017 and grand final appearance

Crouch suffered a hamstring injury in 2017 that ruled him out of the entire pre-season and put him in doubt for round 1 of the regular season. He played in the SANFL for the first few rounds of the season due to concerns that he would struggle in the AFL after missing a large amount of the pre-season. His SANFL form, 40 and 31 disposals in back to back games, warranted his return to the AFL side in Round 5 against the Gold Coast Suns, where he amassed 22 disposals to half time and 33 for the match in a 67-point win. His form continued to improve, as did his brother's. In the Crows' Round 18 match against , Crouch fractured his cheekbone in the third quarter, but fought through the pain and played out the rest of the match. He had to have surgery and missed out on the next game. In the final round of the home and away season in the last AFL game ever played at
Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco, Western Australia, Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood, ...
, Crouch and his brother needed a combined 60 disposals to break a record for the most disposals in an AFL season by brothers, previously held by
Kane Cornes Kane Graham Cornes (born 5 January 1983) is a sports journalist, commentator and former Australian rules footballer who played for Port Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). Known primarily as a tagger, Cornes is a four-time John C ...
and
Chad Cornes Chad Studley Cornes (born 12 November 1979) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was a member of the P ...
from cross-town rivals . By half-time, they already had 50 disposals between them. They passed the Cornes brothers late in the third quarter and had a total of 87 disposals by the end of the match, making the new record 1,202 disposals. He finished the season playing in the
2017 AFL Grand Final The 2017 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Adelaide Football Club and the Richmond Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 30 September 2017. It was the 122nd annual grand final of the Austral ...
against , which the Crows lost by 48 points.


2019–2020

After missing the entire 2018 season with a groin injury, Crouch went on to become one of seven Crows to play all 22 games in 2019. He averaged 30 disposals a game and won the
Malcolm Blight Medal The Malcolm Blight Medal is a post-season award given to the best and fairest player for the Adelaide Football Club. The medal was first awarded in 1991, and later named after former Adelaide Crows coach Malcolm Blight. The voting system as o ...
as the Crows' best and fairest. Crouch received a season-high 18 of a possible 20 medal votes in Adelaide’s win over Richmond in Round 13, collecting a career-high 43 disposals, 11 clearances, six inside-50s and four rebound-50s. Crouch averaged a career-best 30.2 disposals (ranked eighth across the AFL home and away season) and finished second at the Club for clearances and tackles with totals of 117 and 111. The midfielder also made 86 inside-50s - the most of any Crow that season - to go with 11 goals. He also collected 14 Brownlow votes, and received the maximum three votes in two games - Round 11 and Round 13. At the conclusion of the season, Crouch's management explored potential suitors at rival clubs which eventually culminated in a requested a trade to the
Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns, officially the Gold Coast Football Club, are a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in the ...
following interest from St Kilda and Geelong. Crouch sought a move to a club willing to pay a $5 million contract over five seasons. Late in the Trade Period Crouch approached the Suns and lowered his asking price in a bid to complete a trade. The Gold Coast board ultimately blocked the deal given the high draft pick cost of completing the trade and their commitment to securing the services of Matt Rowell and
Noah Anderson Noah Anderson (born 17 February 2001) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Anderson was born in Melbourne to mother Fiona and father Dean Anderson (tw ...
in the upcoming draft. Crouch played the first eight rounds of the shortened 2020 season before sustaining a hamstring injury. Crouch rejoined the side in round 15 and played the final four games of the season. In shortened 16-minute quarters and a 17-game season due to the
Coronavirus Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Crouch averaged 22 disposals a game, collecting a season-high 31 disposals in the Crows' upset win over GWS in round 16. Crouch, along with former teammate Tyson Stengle was reprimanded in October 2020 for 'conduct unbecoming' after both were searched by South Australian Police on 28 September and found to be in possession of an illicit substance. The AFL elected to ban the pair for matches in 2021 (as the season had concluded) with Stengle banned for four matches and Crouch banned for two. The conduct of Stengle and Crouch’s constitutes a notifiable adverse finding under the AFL’s Illicit Drugs Policy.


St Kilda: 2021–2024

On 21 October, Crouch nominated St Kilda as his preferred destination during the Free Agency Period following a contract offer from the club. Crouch was a restricted free agent under AFL rules, meaning the Crows were able to match the contract offer from the Saints to force a trade. Crouch had also attracted interest from
Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...
,
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...
and
Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...
, although it is understood that only the Saints were prepared to offer a five-year contract. On 1 November, the Saints lodged the paperwork for Crouch, with the Crows having three days to decide whether or not to match the bid. Crouch himself spoke publicly of his desire for the Crows not to match the bid, stating that "I want them to not match. I've told St Kilda I'm fully committed to them, so I want to see that out. At this stage I just want to be at St Kilda and the decision I've made I'm fully committed to them." He officially joined St Kilda on 4 November after Adelaide decided not to match at the deadline of 5 pm. Adelaide received draft pick number 23 as compensation. On deciding on St Kilda, Crouch stated that “I think the main thing that attracted me to the Saints was the history. We haven’t won a flag in a long time and it would be pretty cool to be a part of that if we could get one over the line in the next few years. I think that really excited me in comparison to going to one of the teams that have been successful in the last five to 10 years and chasing the flag with them." Following his two-game suspension, Crouch made his debut for St Kilda in Round 3, 2021, against Essendon. He played his 100th AFL game in Round 7 against Hawthorn and had 32 disposals and 7 clearances. In round 12 against the Swans, Crouch had a prolific game collecting 38 disposals, 14 contested possessions, 7 clearances, 7 tackles and 12 score involvements. At the mid-point of the season, Crouch had strongly embedded himself in the Saints' best 22. Despite missing the first two games of the season, Crouch was second for St Kilda's disposals, centre clearances and contested possessions and third for effective disposals. Between round 6 and 13, Crouch averaged 30 disposals a game. Against his former club Adelaide in round 13, Crouch had 36 disposals, 6 tackles, f5 clearances and 19 contested possessions, the second week in a row he had greater than 35 disposals. Crouch ultimately played 20 games (all consecutive), missing just the two opening rounds with suspension. He finished the season second for St Kilda’s total disposals (527), handballs (279), contested possessions (224), ground-ball gets (147), clearances (98), tackles (109) and effective disposals (345). He averaged 27 disposals, 5 clearances and 6 tackles per game. He finished equal fifth in the Saints' best and fairest, the
Trevor Barker Award The Trevor Barker Award is an Australian rules football award for the player voted the St Kilda Football Club best and fairest player during the home and away season in the Australian Football League by a voting panel. The St Kilda Best & Faire ...
.


Retirement

After being delisted at the end of the 2024 season, Crouch was re-drafted through the Rookie Draft, however subsequently announced his immediate retirement on 26 November due to degenerative knee issues.


Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2024 season'' , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
, style="text-align:center" , , 2 , , 14 , , 4 , , 5 , , 158 , , 185 , , 343 , , 61 , , 62 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 11.3 , , 13.2 , , 24.5 , , 4.4 , , 4.4 , , 6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
, style="text-align:center" , , 2 , , 11 , , 5 , , 6 , , 125 , , 147 , , 272 , , 26 , , 61 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 11.4 , , 13.4 , , 24.7 , , 2.4 , , 5.5 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
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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 ...
, style="text-align:center" , , 2 , , 16 , , 4 , , 1 , , 155 , , 213 , , 368 , , 26 , , 102 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 9.7 , , 13.3 , , 23.0 , , 1.6 , , 6.4 , , 4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
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 ...
, style=:text-align:center", , 2 , , 20 , , 8 , , 10 , , 237 , , 324 , , 561 , , 56 , , 137 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 11.9 , , 16.2 , , 28.1 , , 2.8 , , 6.9 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
, , 2 , , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
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 ...
, , 2 , , 22 , , 11 , , 12 , , 338 , , 327 , , 665 , , 65 , , 111 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 15.4 , , 14.8 , , 30.2 , , 3.0 , , 5.0 , , 14 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, , 2 , , 12 , , 2 , , 1 , , 136 , , 127 , , 263 , , 20 , , 44 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 11.3 , , 10.6 , , 21.9 , , 1.7 , , 3.7 , , 1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
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 ...
, , 5 , , 20 , , 7 , , 5 , , 248 , , 279 , , 527 , , 56 , , 109 , , 0.4 , , 0.3 , , 12.4 , , 14.0 , , 26.4 , , 2.8 , , 5.5 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
, , 5 , , 21 , , 7 , , 3 , , 270 , , 301 , , 571 , , 73 , , 149 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 12.8 , , 14.3 , , 27.1 , , 3.4 , , 7.0 , , 10 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
, , 5 , , 24 , , 8 , , 6 , , 292 , , 359 , , 651 , , 90 , , 142 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 12.2 , , 15.0 , , 27.1 , , 3.8 , , 5.9 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,
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 ...
, , 5 , , 1 , , 0 , , 0 , , 6 , , 9 , , 15 , , 2 , , 4 , , 0 , , 0 , , 6 , , 9 , , 15 , , 2 , , 4 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 161 ! 56 ! 49 ! 1965 ! 2269 ! 4234 ! 474 ! 921 ! 0.3 ! 0.3 ! 12.2 ! 14.1 ! 26.3 ! 2.94 ! 5.7 ! 61 Notes


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crouch, Brad 1994 births Living people Adelaide Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) West Adelaide Football Club players Greater Western Victoria Rebels players Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Malcolm Blight Medal winners St Kilda Football Club players 21st-century Australian sportsmen People educated at St Patrick's College, Ballarat