Thirty years ago, five new Crows started a journey to surprising success.
Five recruits with assorted football experiences shared their debuts for Adelaide in Round One of 1996 but would later share triumphs of greater significance.
Darren Jarman, Kym Koster, Troy Bond, Peter Caven and Shane Ellen – all added to the squad after a disappointing 1995 season under coach Robert Shaw – played in a stirring 90-point win against Sydney at Football Park, on the last day of March.
Remarkably, the five featured on the last day of September the following year, when Adelaide won its first AFL premiership at the MCG.
Everyone knew what mercurial Darren Jarman could bring to the Crows. The midfielder-forward returned to South Australia and was reunited with older brother Andrew, after five seasons with Hawthorn. He played 109 games for the Hawks, won a premiership medal in 1991 and was the club’s best-and-fairest in 1995.
His class was on show in his first Crows outing, a stunning goal on the run after two bounces in the pocket a highlight of his 22 touches.
The other additions had lower profiles.
Caven, part of the four-club trade to land Jarman, had played 18 games for Sydney the previous two seasons after 38 at Fitzroy, where he was coached by Shaw. The 25-year-old made a dazzling debut, kicking three goals in five minutes during the first quarter against his former club and finished with four goals.
After 38 games in two seasons at Footscray, Koster returned to South Australia as another piece of the Jarman jigsaw. The spirited wingman also made a strong start to his Crows career, throwing himself into contests while collecting 21 possessions.
Half-forward Bond, homesick and left out of Carlton’s 1995 grand final side, was another side deal in the Jarman swaps. He kicked three goals from a busy 24-possession game.
The other new Crow was defender Ellen, who played 11 games for Footscray in two years, was delisted and then secured by the Crows in the 1996 pre-season draft, only four weeks before the first round. He was typically unobtrusive from the back pocket in round one.
The exciting start to Adelaide’s season continued for four weeks with big wins against Fitzroy – when the Jarman brothers combined for 14 goals - Geelong and Essendon.
But the good times soon disappeared and it turned into a season of upheaval and massive change. The Crows finished 12th, winning only eight of their 22 games.
Darren Jarman stood out in a tough season. He finished equal third just behind winner Matthew Liptak in the Club Champion trophy and was named in the All Australian team. Koster needed a knee reconstruction after round nine, Caven booted 17 goals from 20 games, Ellen battled shoulder injuries but played 17 games and Bond was used through the midfield and across half back, finishing 8th in the Club Champion votes.
It was September, 1997, when this group suddenly became a famous five among a celebrated 21.
Jarman kicked six goals in the second half of the grand final comeback win over St Kilda. Caven’s move to the half-back line made him an attacking weapon; Bond kicked a goal in each quarter of the grand final and best team man Koster was rewarded for his successful return.
And Ellen’s five goal cameo after he started at full forward in the absence of injured Tony Modra remains one of the most unexpected and celebrated twists in Crows history. They were Ellen’s only goals of the season.
Four of the five became two-time premiership players the following year. Jarman kicked five goals to star in the win over North Melbourne; Caven finished on top of superstar forward Wayne Carey; Ellen returned to a defensive role; and Koster had a quiet day but celebrated a big season after playing all 26 games.
Bond was the unfortunate one, missing the last months of the 1998 season with a serious shoulder injury. But the premiership teams also included 1995 national draftee Kane Johnson, who made his AFL debut in his first season, and 1996 pre-season draftee Simon Goodwin.
It was a recruiting class that helped shape an AFL legacy.
