Tom Bell has crammed a lot into the past five years - from national BMX races to police cadet car chases - but it’s all led him back to his first love, footy, and now, a place on the Crows’ SANFL list.

Bell, who signed with Adelaide in November ahead of the 2026 SANFL season, arrived at West Lakes from South Fremantle - and has spent the past three months immersed in the Crows’ pre-season training program. 

His path to Adelaide has been unique, but it’s built his resilience, experience and competitiveness - traits he believes will help bolster the Crows this coming SANFL season.

“I’m an athletic player, that’s my biggest strength, position wise I probably prefer being down back but am honestly happy to play anywhere,” Bell said.

“I’m able to run all day, whoever I’m on I’ll go with them all day until the siren goes, and I’ve got a pretty handy left foot on me so I can provide a bit of drive out of half back.

“I just want to keep developing my game and be flexible with what the coaches need. I'm that player that gets stuff done for the team and will do what I need to do to help the team win. 

“I like to bring that competitive edge as well and hate to lose, in a nutshell that’s how I would describe my game.” 

Bell spent the majority of his junior years playing football in his home town of Bunbury, before one fateful afternoon altered the course of his sporting journey, and put him on a path toward BMX riding.

“Growing up I loved playing footy and was really committed to it through my junior days, and it wasn’t until one day when I was walking home from school that everything changed,” Bell said. 

“Instead of driving me home he took me to the BMX track and that day I pretty much just rode for five hours straight and fell in love with it from there and it became my passion for two years.  

“The amount of training I put into it was quite intense, I put footy on hold and spent hours and hours honing my craft, which I think helped build my athletic base and make me realise my future would be in sport.

“I managed to climb the ranks a bit, competed at national level in Victoria which was pretty cool, but unfortunately I had a bit of a stack there which put everything on pause for a bit.” 

Unable to ride for the foreseeable future, Bell knew he had another passion to fall back on, and after making a deal with his Dad decided to give football one more crack.

“That fall at the National Championships grazed me up a bit, but also broke my bike so I wasn’t able to ride,” Bell said. 

“So while my bike was getting fixed, I decided I wanted to head up to Perth which is where my Dad pushed me to give footy another crack, he basically made a deal with me that if I was to move I had to give footy another try.

“From there I gave Dan Marie who was the talent manager at South Fremantle at the time a ring and just said can I come down for a trial and he said ‘yep come on down, we’ve got a 2km time trial waiting for you.’ 

“I went down, did that, and although the run was tough, I instantly fell back in love with footy and have spent the last two years dedicating myself to it.” 

As he solidified himself at colts (under-18s) and then reserves level at South Fremantle, Bell had the opportunity to follow another passion, and promptly joined the police cadets.

He spent a year with the force while playing for South Fremantle, an experience he said gave him a great outlet from footy and a perspective on life away from sport.

“I was always interested in the police as it seemed like a pretty fun job, so I did a year of the cadets which is pretty much just an apprenticeship with the officers,” Bell said. 

“So I went out on patrol with them, got in speed chases, and did everything a cop would do effectively. It was really cool to get out there and do something a little bit different and see life from a new perspective. 

“It was a super cool experience, I got to see a lot of cool stuff and I feel the skills I learnt from that have really helped me as I’ve climbed the ranks in footy.”  

But when the Crows came knocking with an opportunity to play for their SANFL team and be part of the AFL program on a full-time training basis, he knew it was a chance he simply could not pass up

He made the decision to leave the cadets, move to Adelaide and, once again, fully commit to his sporting endeavours.

“I’ve always just wanted the opportunity at AFL level, no matter what it might be, so the second the Crows gave me this chance to train full time and play with the SANFL I took it in a heartbeat,” Bell said.

“I am absolutely loving it here, I’ve felt super welcomed from my first day at the Club and it’s just continued the whole way through.

“Everyone has made me feel so comfortable in the environment and that has really helped my performance. I feel like I’m trusted by teammates out on the track which has given me a lot of confidence. 

“I feel like I’ve improved so much, learning the game and how to play at AFL level, getting used to the speed and even just the little things you pick up in the gym that I never knew you had to do to get your body at the level.”

Having spent the past three months grinding his way through pre-season training, Bell will finally have a chance to showcase his skills against an opposition in the Crows’ upcoming slate of practice matches.

“I can’t wait to pull the jumper on and get stuck into the opponents, there’s nothing quite like being out there on game day,” Bell said. 

“There’s some things you can’t really do in training simulations that you can on the field against the opposition, so I can’t wait to get out there and compete and show what I can do.”