Premiership captain Cameron Ling admits footy world has been slow to acknowledge Matt Crouch

A PREMIERSHIP captain and leading AFL commentator says the footy world is finally waking up to Adelaide Crows’ Matt Crouch’s superstar qualities after his dramatic rise to All-Australian contender.

A PREMIERSHIP captain and leading AFL commentator says the footy world is finally waking up to Matt Crouch’s superstar qualities after his dramatic rise to All-Australian contender in a record-breaking season.

Revered former Geelong captain Cameron Ling admits the Victorian-centric footy bubble has been slow to acknowledge just how good the younger Crouch brother is after he broke the Crows’ club record for disposals this year.

Matt Crouch of the Crows calls for the ball.

In racking up 45 disposals in Sunday’s loss to West Coast, Matt took his season average to 33 which surpassed inaugural captain Chris McDermott’s 32.7 set in 1992.

“It’s not like he’s not rated because Matty Crouch is a terrific player but now there is more conversation around Matty Crouch being better than just ‘oh yeah he’s a good player and gets heaps of the footy’ - this bloke is a gun,” said Ling who now works for Channel 7.

“He gets heaps of the footy but he is so clever with his ball use, short little hit-up kicks in traffic, his hands are good, he creates and brings others into the game - he’s a gun, an absolute gun.

“I just think we’ve been slow to appreciate just how good he is as opposed to just saying ‘oh he’s a good player’, no he’s better than that.

“And (brother) Brad is starting to get that continuity into his game, but he’s going to be a gun when he’s got three or four seasons consistently under his belt, he’s very good now and you can only see him getting better.”

Matt Crouch has stepped up along with Richard Douglas to provide Adelaide with a genuine midfield.

Adelaide’s midfield has been criticised as a one-man band following Patrick Dangerfield’s departure two years ago but Matt’s rapid rise and at long last an injury-free season for Brad has seen it transform into a three-headed monster.

Combined with superstar Rory Sloane, the three of them had 125 disposals against the Eagles on Sunday.

Together the Crouch boys broke the record set by Kane and Chad Cornes in 2007 for the most disposals by brothers in a year with their 1202 beating the Cornes’ 1174.

“The one doubt I had over them coming into the season was their midfield depth against the likes of a Sydney which has a strong, deep midfield,” Ling told The Advertiser.

“But with the continued incredible improvement of the Crouch brothers as a great example, and Charlie Cameron coming in there, David Mackay playing a great role, Richie Douglas playing quality footy, Sloaney, it’s deep and hard and can sustain it.”

As expected Matt Crouch and Sloane were named in the 40-man All-Australian squad yesterday and were joined by six teammates including Sam Jacobs, Taylor Walker, Rory Laird, Tom Lynch and Eddie Betts.

The 22-man team will be named in Melbourne on Wednesday.

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