Number Crunch: How boom recruit Bryce Gibbs has transformed from finisher to midfield bull at Adelaide

HE was supposed to be the icing on the cake — the elite distributor and finisher that could take Adelaide from beaten grand finalist to premier. But Bryce Gibbs’ long awaited move from Carlton to the Crows has required more heavy lifting.

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HE was supposed to be the icing on the cake — the elite distributor and finisher that could take Adelaide from beaten grand finalist to premier.

But Bryce Gibbs’ long awaited move from Carlton to the Crows has required more heavy lifting.

In a year where Adelaide has been battered from pillar to post physically and unable to get its best side on the park, Gibbs has been its engine room specialist.

One of only five Crows to play all 17 games this season — along with Hugh Greenwood, Sam Jacobs, Josh Jenkins and Tom Doedee — Gibbs has been forced to spend far more time in the centre square than he or the club would have expected.

As the Crows prepare to play a Melbourne team on Saturday night that has an on-ball brigade considered among the best in the business, Gibbs and Greenwood have been the only on-ball mainstays for Adelaide this season.

Brad Crouch hasn’t played a game because of a chronic groin injury and has been ruled out for the year.

Star vice-captain Rory Sloane has missed nine matches because of a bad foot injury, club champion Matt Crouch was absent for four games with two separate hamstring injuries and Cam Ellis-Yolmen — so productive early in the season — has battled injuries and form that has restricted him to 12 matches.

This has left Gibbs and Greenwood — a four-goal star in the win against Brisbane last week — to carry the load.

Champion Data statistics show Gibbs has spent 86 per cent of his game time at Adelaide in the midfield.

This compares to just 58 per cent in the middle in his 231 games with the Blues, where he rotated between the midfield, halfback, half-forward and wing.

While Glenelg product Gibbs’ return to play in SA hasn’t been deemed the success it might have been because of Adelaide's struggles — it sits 12th with a 9-8 win-loss record after round 18 — his form has been very good.

Essendon’s Devon Smith — a former Giant — has been the recruit of the year but Gibbs’ numbers have been impressive.

At Adelaide, he ranks second in disposals with 442 at an average of 26, second in tackles (90 at an average of 5.3), first in clearances (93 at 5.5) and centre clearances (38 at 2.2) and second in contested possessions (187 at 11).

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What stands out is his increase in the “hard’’ statistics, which illustrate how he’s become more of an inside player since changing clubs.

Gibbs, 29 and a veteran of 248 matches, has doubled his average clearance wins this season — from a career average of three to six.

And he is averaging three more contested possessions a game — up from eight to 11.

Overall, Gibbs’ average disposals have risen from 23 to 26 while his metres gained average has jumped from 365m to 413m.

The only significant drop Gibbs has suffered is in disposal efficiency, which has dipped from 73 per cent to 66 per cent.

Regarded as a fine user of the ball, the decrease can be explained by him winning more ball in traffic.

Bryce Gibbs of the Crows (centre) and Jack Higgins (left) and Dustin Martin of the Tigers during the Round 16 match at the MCG. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Smith

“He’s had a good year,’’ said Crows lead ruckman Sam Jacobs, who also spent two years with Gibbs at Carlton.

“His role has been a bit different to what we anticipated because of injuries to key midfielders, which has meant he and Greenwood have had to take over the mantle of being our main midfield men, which they have done really well.

“Moving forward — and now that some of those other midfielders are back in the side — we see Bryce’s greatest value in being that damaging kick for us on the outside.

“He’s an elite kick and we probably haven’t been able to use that to our full advantage yet but if we can play him a bit more on the wing or through halfback or half-forward it will benefit the team.’’

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