The Crows made a clean sweep in the coaches’ votes at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
Captain Taylor Walker, who collected nine votes, was adjudged the best player on the ground by Scott Camporeale and Damien Hardwick. Walker amassed 21 possessions – his best return since Round One – and hauled in a game-high 10 marks and seven inside 50ms. The imposing forward could’ve finished with a bag of goals against All Australian defender Alex Rance, but had to settle for a return of 2.5.
Ruckman Sam Jacobs polled seven votes for his influential performance against the Tigers. Jacobs won 38 hit-outs, including a round-high 18 to advantage, to go with 14 possessions, four clearances, four tackles and a goal assist.
Rory Sloane, who has been limited to 12 games this season because of injury, soared into third place on the Crows leaderboard after earning another six votes. Sloane gathered 27 possessions, six inside 50ms, five clearances and a goal assist in the 36-point win over Richmond.
In-form midfielder Patrick Dangerfield added another four votes to improve his tally to 49. Dangerfield won 29 possessions, eight clearances, seven inside 50ms, five marks, five tackles and also kicked a goal. The leading possession-getter on the ground, Scott Thompson earned two votes. Thompson racked up 30 possessions, including a game-high 17 contested, and also finished with 10 tackles, six clearances and four inside 50ms.
Reigning Club Champion and All Australian defender Daniel Talia received one vote after restricting Richmond spearhead Jack Riewoldt to one goal from a season-low seven possessions. Wingman Ricky Henderson collected the remaining vote after picking up 23 possessions, nine marks, six inside 50ms and a goal assist.
Only four players, Dane Swan, Joel Selwood, Sam Mitchell and Shaun Higgins, earned a perfect 10 votes on the weekend. North Melbourne ruckman Todd Goldstein and West Coast wingman Andrew Gaff were the big movers. Goldstein (70) has closed to within 15 votes of second-placed Dan Hannebery (85) after receiving another five votes against Melbourne, while Gaff is fourth on 67 votes. Fremantle star Nat Fyfe (100) remains in the lead of the AFL Coaches Association Champion Player of the Year award despite not having played for two weeks because of injury.
Dangerfield (49) is the highest-placed Crow, sitting just outside the overall top 10. He’s polled votes from the coaches in 10 of his 17 games this season. Thompson has received votes in eight games, one more than Rory Laird (seven). Sloane has polled in nearly half (five) of his 12 games.
Adelaide vs Richmond
9 Taylor Walker (Adel)
7 Sam Jacobs (Adel)
6 Rory Sloane (Adel)
4 Patrick Dangerfield (Adel)
2 Scott Thompson (Adel)
1 Ricky Henderson (Adel)
1 Daniel Talia (Adel)
Round 19 Leaderboard
100 Nat Fyfe (Frem)
85 Dan Hannebery (Syd)
70 Todd Goldstein (NM)
67 Andrew Gaff (WC)
65 David Mundy (Frem)
65 Matt Priddis (WC)
60 Scott Pendlebury (Coll)
58 Sam Mitchell (Haw)
56 Josh Kennedy (Syd)
53 David Armitage (St K)
53 Trent Cotchin (Rich)
Crows Leaderboard after Round 19
49 – Patrick Dangerfield
42 – Scott Thompson
30 – Rory Sloane
26 – Sam Jacobs
25 – Eddie Betts
23 – Taylor Walker
22 – Rory Laird
10 – Brodie Smith
10 – David Mackay
9 – Josh Jenkins
6 – Charlie Cameron
5 – Daniel Talia
4 – Richard Douglas
3 – Nathan van Berlo
2 – Matt Wright
2 – Matt Crouch
2 – Ricky Henderson
Full Crows voting
Round 18
Round 17
Round 16
Round 15
Round 13
Round 12
Round 10
Round Nine
Round Eight
Round Seven
Round Six
Round Five
Round Four
Round Three
Round Two
Round One
