Adelaide secured the McClelland Trophy for finishing first on the ladder at the completion of the home and away season despite Sunday’s loss to West Coast. It is the second time the Crows have been AFL minor premiers, with the last crown coming in 2005.

The Crows sat atop the AFL ladder for all but five weeks of the 2017 season and have held top position since the Round 16 win over the Western Bulldogs.

The last time a team claimed the minor premiership with 15 wins was 1997, when St Kilda finished on top. Adelaide won their first premiership that season.

The Crouch brothers broke a pair of records against the Eagles, eclipsing the mark for most combined disposals by brothers in a home and away season. Their combined 87 disposals took Matt and Brad to 1,202 disposals for the season, passing Port Adelaide’s Cornes brothers who collected 1,174 disposals between them in 2007.

The Beaufort ball magnets also achieved the most disposals by brothers in an AFL game, passing Wayne & Max Richardson who had 75 touches between them in 1971 playing for Collingwood against North Melbourne.

Matt’s 45 disposals and Brad’s 42 were also individual career-highs for both players.

Matt Crouch’s output took him to second in Club history for most disposals in a season. Crouch reached 726 disposals for the season, passing Chris McDermott (720 in 1992), with the midfielder set to pass Scott Thompson’s 737 across the upcoming Finals series.

Rory Sloane’s 38 disposals were a career-best for the Crows vice-captain, with Sloane’s 14 clearances also a new personal benchmark and round high. 

Sloane’s nine tackles takes him to equal sixth for the most tackles in an AFL season, with his 177 tackles in 2017 coming at an average of 8.05 per game, ranked #1 in the League for 2017. 

The Crows were the leading clearance Club in Round 23 with 50. Sloane and Brad Crouch combined for 24 and were ranked the top-two clearance winners across the league. The midfield trio of the Crouch brothers and Sloane were the top three ball winners league wide, with 126 touches between them.

Sam Jacobs bettered his own Club record for most hitouts in a season, now at 882. This is the sixth best in AFL history, with Jacobs recording a round high 51 hitouts against the Eagles including 22 hitouts to advantage.

Jacobs’ 22 hitouts to advantage were an equal round best in 2017, level with his own record set in Round Eight against Melbourne.

Paul Seedsman’s eight inside 50s were ranked fourth for the round, with the wingman also ranked fourth for metres gained with 609m.

 

Match statistics
Disposals
Adelaide – 415
West Coast - 392

Disposal efficiency
Adelaide – 76 per cent
West Coast – 77 per cent

Kicks
Adelaide – 202
West Coast - 231

Handballs
Adelaide – 213
West Coast - 161

Clearances
Adelaide – 50
West Coast - 33

Inside 50ms
Adelaide – 53
West Coast - 50

Contested possessions
Adelaide – 142
West Coast - 152

Uncontested possessions
Adelaide – 284
West Coast - 245

Tackles
Adelaide – 62
West Coast - 59

Hit-outs
Adelaide – 54
West Coast - 42