From a record crowd to standout performers, Adelaide’s Gather Round opener against Carlton delivered plenty of stats worth unpacking. Here are the key numbers, milestones and historical notes from Round Five.

A record-setting crowd

Thursday’s thunderstorms didn’t deter footy fans from heading to Adelaide Oval for the start of Gather Round. The crowd of 49,184 was a record for a home and away game between Adelaide and Carlton. The previous high was 47,422 at Adelaide Oval in Round Seven, 2018.

Rankine reaches the century

The last goal of the night was Izak Rankine’s 100th goal for the Crows. It was his 61st game for Adelaide since switching from Gold Coast, where he kicked 57 goals in 48 games.

Crows perfect Blues record at Adelaide Oval 

Adelaide has won all five games it has played against Carlton at Adelaide Oval. The unbalanced ratio of home and away venues for games between Adelaide and Carlton is slowly improving, but only 16 of the 45 contests since 1991 have been played at either Football Park or Adelaide Oval.

Keays’ Blues specialty

Ben Keays has kicked three goals in four of his past five games against Carlton. The run started in round three of the 2022 season, repeated in the next two seasons and then went close to continuing last year when he kicked 2.2 against the Blues. His three goals on Thursday night were all kicked in the second term.

Walker still delivering

Taylor Walker is approaching his 36th birthday but continues to contribute. The former Crows captain kicked 1.1 from 14 disposals in his 305th game but this included a game-high four assists, six inside 50s and nine score involvements.

Gather Round openers

It was the fourth time Adelaide opened AFL Gather Round, on a Thursday night. The Crows won their inaugural Gather Round game in 2023 against Carlton by 56 points but lost their next two matches to Geelong and Melbourne.