Rory Brandon Sloane (born 17 March 1990) 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 ...

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). Sloane is a dual Malcolm Blight Medallist, was selected in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

in 2016, and won a Showdown Medal in 2017. Sloane served as Adelaide co-captain in 2019 and its sole captain from 2020 to 2022.

Early life

Rory Brandon Sloane was born on 17 March 1990 in Victoria. Growing up, Sloane supported 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 ...

. He was first part of

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

side

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team that currently competes in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. History Inaugural playing squad (1992) Honours *Premiers (2): 2002, 2013 *Runners-up (6): 199 ...

under-18 side when he was only 16, and went on to captain Eastern Ranges in 2008. He was drafted by Adelaide with pick 44 in the 2008 AFL draft.

AFL career

2009–2012: Early career

Sloane strained a medial ligament in his knee prior to the start of the 2009 season but upon returning quickly forced his way into the seniors 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. ...

and showed strong form, prompting Adelaide coach Neil Craig to comment, "He'll be an exciting player for us in the future…our supporters will like Rory Sloane." Sloane made his AFL debut in round 20 against . He did not record a kick but had seven tackles. Sloane played his second game in round 1, 2010, but sustained a serious ankle injury during the clash against which saw him out of the side for several weeks. He returned to play 14 matches for the season, averaging more than 15 disposals as a midfielder. He also signed a new contract with the Crows during the year. For the second consecutive year, Sloane was injured in the first game in 2011, against Hawthorn, and was sidelined for several weeks with a fractured jaw and broken thumb. After returning, Sloane played out the remainder of the season, averaging 20 disposals and 5 tackles per game, including a 36-possession game against eventual premiers in round 21. He continued his emergence as a star midfielder in 2012, averaging 22 possessions and earning three Brownlow votes for best-on-ground in crucial wins over and Fremantle. Midway through the year, he revealed he had signed a three-year deal with the Crows, saying, "The way Brenton andersonand the rest of the coaching staff have gone about creating this really enjoyable environment for us to be involved in - I think that's a big reason why everyone wants to stay around". Sloane lifted his game yet again in 2013, averaging 23.5 possessions, winning the Malcolm Blight Medal for the best and fairest Crows player, and polling 15 votes in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

2013–2018: Personal and club success

Due to the season-ending Achilles injury sustained by captain

Nathan van Berlo Nathan van Berlo (born 6 June 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the club with pick 24 in the 2004 National Draft. He was the c ...

during pre-season training in 2014, Sloane and

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 ...

were named as acting co-captains of the Adelaide Football Club for the 2014 season. Sloane continued to thrive in 2014, finishing second in the Malcolm Blight Medal behind Daniel Talia. He played his 100th AFL game in round 23 against . In June 2015, Sloane signed a three-year contract extension with Adelaide, keeping him at the club until 2018. Sloane twice injured his cheekbone during the season, missing a total of five games, but despite that remained one of the club's elite players, finishing sixth in Adelaide's best and fairest. Sloane had an outstanding year in 2016, averaging 25 disposals and leading the club in contested possessions and tackles. He was considered a contender for the

before being suspended for rough conduct late in the season, rendering him ineligible for the award. Sloane was rewarded with his second Malcolm Blight Medal as the club's best and fairest player, and was also named vice-captain in the 2016 All-Australian team while being the runner-up in the AFLPA Most Valuable Player award. Sloane had an outstanding start to 2017, winning the Showdown Medal in round 3 and averaging 29.5 disposals per game while the Crows remained undefeated in the first six rounds. He started to struggle when other teams began heavily tagging him, notably playing ex-Crow Bernie Vince on him, causing the Crows to lose their next two matches. Sloane worked hard to improve against these tags, but again he struggled against Melbourne in round 17 when Vince kept him to just 8 possessions before he was knocked out in a Dean Kent tackle and sat out the rest of the game. Before Adelaide's qualifying final against , Sloane had surgery to have his appendix removed and was forced to miss the match. Sloane's strong performances throughout the season were respected by his teammates, who nominated him for both the AFL Players' Association MVP Award and the Most Courageous Award. Sloane's future was up in the air during the 2018 season as multiple clubs were eager to lure him back to his home state in Victoria, with Collingwood looming as a likely suitor. However, in a move that surprised many, Sloane re-signed for a further five years to commit the rest of his career to

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 ...

2019–2024: Captaincy and late career

In 2019, Sloane was appointed as co-captain of the Adelaide Football Club alongside Taylor Walker. In 2020, Sloane assumed the sole captaincy and in round one played his 200th AFL game against the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

at the

Adelaide Oval The Adelaide Oval is a stadium in Adelaide in the state of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Parklands, parklands. The venue is predominantly used for cricket and Australian rules football, but has also played host to rugby league, ...

, which the Crows lost by three points. Despite the club's least successful year in their history, Sloane continued to serve as captain during the majority of Adelaide's games and amassed 3 Brownlow votes. Sloane injured his knee in Adelaide's win over Richmond in round 5 of the 2022 season; scans later confirmed a ruptured

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

, forcing him to miss the rest of the season. The role of club captain was rotated between

Tom Doedee Tom Doedee ( ; born 1 March 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for . Early life Doedee excelled as a junior basketballer from t ...

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 ...

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 ...

and Brodie Smith. Prior to the 2023 season, Sloane handed over the captaincy to emerging recruit Jordan Dawson and stepped down from the leadership group entirely. Sloane played his 250th game in a loss to at the

in 2023. Following a mid-season surgery for the same issue in 2021, Sloane again went under surgery for a

detached retina Retinal detachment is a condition where the retina pulls away from the tissue underneath it. It may start in a small area, but without quick treatment, it can spread across the entire retina, leading to serious vision loss and possibly blindness. R ...

. Although his recovery appeared to be progressing better than in 2021, Sloane announced his retirement in April 2024, choosing to prioritise his long-term health and wellbeing. His 255th and final game was played in a narrow loss to in round 23 of the 2023 season. At the time of his retirement, Sloane had played the 10th-most games of any Adelaide player and amassed the fourth-most

votes for Adelaide with 108.

In the media

Sloane featured in the 2021

fly-on-the-wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, ...

documentary TV series '' Making Their Mark'', which showed the impact of the

COVID-19 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 ...

on several AFL clubs, players, and staff. Nic Naitanui and

Eddie Betts Edward Robert Betts III (born 26 November 1986) is a former Australian rules football player who played as a forward for Carlton Football Club, Carlton and Adelaide Football Club, Adelaide in the Australian Football League between 2005 and 2021. ...

were filmed almost continuously, with other players featured including Stephen Coniglio and Sloane, along with several coaches and other staff associated with the clubs. In January 2025, it was announced that Sloane would join the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

as a panellist on '' Footy Classified''.

Personal life

Sloane has an older brother named Dylan and a younger sister named Shae, a former professional footballer for and volleyballer for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Sloane has a strong friendship with fellow draftee Taylor Walker. They played 199 games together for until Sloane's retirement in

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 ...

. Their families are very close, with their children being similar ages. Sloane is husband to wife Belinda Sloane, née Riverso. The couple married in October of 2016. Rory and Belinda had four children together; Leo, Sonny, Bodhi, and Summer. Tragically, the couple's first son Leo was

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

after the 34th week of pregnancy. Sloane's third son Bodhi has the middle name Leo to commemorate their first.

Statistics

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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 ...

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2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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, , , , 9 , 0 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , 0 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 255 !! 136 !! 88 !! 2803 !! 2745 !! 5548 !! 983 !! 1398 !! 0.5 !! 0.3 !! 11.0 !! 10.8 !! 21.8 !! 3.9 !! 5.5 !! 108 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team *

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

():

* NAB Cup:

(

) Individual * Adelaide co-captain: 2019;

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

: 2020–2022 *

* 2× Malcolm Blight Medal: 2013, 2016 * Robert Rose Award: 2017 * Australia representative honours in

international rules football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

* Victoria representative honours in State of Origin for Bushfire Relief Match * Showdown Medal: 2017 (game 1) * 22under22 team: 2012

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sloane, Rory Adelaide Football Club players North Adelaide Football Club players 1990 births Living people Eastern Ranges players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Malcolm Blight Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) Australian people of Irish descent Australia international rules football team players 21st-century Australian sportsmen