From wondering whether he’d walk properly again to having more disposals than any other player, it’s been a big 12 months for Adelaide midfielder Brad Crouch
In June last year, Brad Crouch decided surgery was the best option to fix a debilitating groin injury. This June, he heads into the mid-season break as the AFL’s most-prolific ball-winner. But, for as good as he’s been, there’s one area holding him back.
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“There were stages where I worried whether I was going to walk again properly.”
They are the words of Adelaide midfielder Brad Crouch, whose return to footy looked a longway off at this time last year.
After playing 20 games — the most in his injury-plagued six-year career — in 2017, including the grand final loss to Richmond, Crouch succumbed to an ongoing groin injury, which eventually wiped out his entire 2018 campaign.
“It became debilitating. I couldn’t run at all, and there were times where I couldn’t walk or get out of bed, which makes things pretty hard. There were moments when I couldn’t even get out of the car. I literally had to pick my legs up to get out,” Crouch explained in a story he penned as part of the Players Voice series for the AFLPA in March.
Crows fans were frustrated to see Crouch, again, on the sidelines, given the enormous potential he had displayed in his 61 games.
In 52 of them, the 25-year-old tallied 20 disposals or more and finished with at least 80 Champion Data ranking points on 44 occasions.
Their frustration, however, was nothing compared to that felt by Crouch himself.
“People don’t understand, and supporters don’t understand how frustrating it can be to hear people saying, ‘He’s injured again’,” Crouch said.
“It is hard to avoid that stuff, but you can’t sit around and sook about it. They are the cards I’ve been dealt. I can understand why they’re frustrated, but I am arguably more frustrated than they are.”
But what a difference another 12 months has made.
It was June last year when Crouch and the club eventually decided surgery was the best option.
In June this year, Crouch — albeit in one more game than some — heads into the mid-season break after recording more disposals than any other player in the competition after 13 rounds.
And his 48 coaches votes has him sitting seventh on the AFLCA’s leaderboard — equal with Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield and two ahead of Melbourne’s Max Gawn.
But, more importantly, despite a slight hiccup over the pre-season, in a huge boost to Adelaide’s midfield, Crouch has played every game in 2019.
Prior to this season, the eldest of Adelaide’s Crouch brothers had only once played more than 10 matches in-a-row.
So his 13 consecutive games in 2019 is a win in itself.
With his body sound, allowing for his trademark explosiveness to return, Crouch is — again- making his mark on the AFL.
“I love what Crouch is doing. He’s emerging as one of these top-10-type players,” inaugural Crows coach Graham Cornes said on radio this week.
A career-high 43 disposals against the Tigers in Round 13 saw his average climb to 31.8 — the seventh-best in the game.
Crouch’s work at the contest has been outstanding this year, ranking 15th in the AFL for clearances, but he’s also winning more ball on the outside than he ever has.
The 186cm midfielder’s 14 handball-receives per game is the fourth-most of any player.
Add career-highs in uncontested possessions and score involvements, as well as nine goals — the equal-ninth-most of all midfielders — and you’ve got a well-rounded game.
But as good as he’s been, there’s an aspect of Crouch’s game holding him back from joining the top-echelon of AFL midfielders.
While he’s having an impact at the contest and away from it, out of the top-100 ball-winners in the competition, Crouch’s kicking efficiency of 47.4 per cent is the lowest.
And it’s a deficiency which has become more obvious over the past month with Crouch averaging 22 kicks per game — 10 more than his career average — in his past four matches.
But with a fit-and-firing Crouch likely to be at the pointy-end of Adelaide’s club champion count at the halfway mark, it’s a frustration Crows fans will be happy to deal with for now.
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