Midfielder Brad Crouch is widely tipped to take out the Crows best and fairest award — the Malcolm Blight Medal — at the club champion event on Thursday
Don Pyke has had a change of heart and will attend tonight’s Crows club champion awards. Vote in our poll and tell us who you think will win the Malcolm Blight Medal for 2019.
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Former Adelaide coach Don Pyke has had a last-minute change of heart and will gather with the team at tonight’s Crows Club Champion black tie gala event at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
While it is widely expected that midfielder Brad Crouch will be pulling on the coveted Crows’ gold jacket as the team’s best and fairest for season 2019, the Malcolm Blight Medal winner will be Pyke’s final official appearance, after deciding to walk away from the club last month.
Crouch — who polled the highest number of Brownlow votes of his team this year with 14, six more than his closest teammate, brother Matt — shone in Adelaide’s midfield, even setting a club record for most tackles in a game when he laid 16 in the Crows’ 95-point thumping of Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium in July.
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Taking out the Malcolm Blight Medal will cap off a remarkable comeback from injury for the 25-year-old, who spent the entire 2018 season on the sidelines with a persistent groin injury.
Competition for Crouch’s club champion honour will not only come from his brother, but from fellow midfielder, Rory Sloane and defenders Alex Keath and Daniel Talia.
But don’t discount ruck Reilly O’Brien who enjoyed a standout year replacing the injured veteran Sam Jacobs and then overtaking him as the club’s preferred starting ruckman.
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It’s likely to be a sombre mood at the awards night as the Crows enter a serious rebuilding phase after not only losing their coach, but enduring a tumultuous off-season with numerous players leaving the club and speculation swirling around the future of a handful of others — including Crouch himself.
With Pyke now attending the event, he will do it alongside a host of players who have announced they wish to leave the club — including Jacobs, Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Alex Keath and Hugh Greenwood — who are all expected attend.
it’s expected outgoing key forward Josh Jenkins won’t be there, after he posted on his social media accounts that he was headed to the United States.
Fans will likely have to wait until at least next week to find out who will be the club’s next coach, with the Crows saying yesterday that no major announcements would be made at the event.