2009

Premiership position: 5th (15 wins, 9 losses). Finished minor round 5th (14 wins, eight losses)

Coach: Neil Craig

Captain: Simon Goodwin

Losing finals always hurts but the cruel end to the 2009 season was excruciating for Adelaide.

The Crows recovered from an unsteady start to qualify for another finals series before Collingwood again wrecked their September campaign. There were less than 30 seconds on the clock when Collingwood hit the front in the knock-out semi-final at the MCG.

Adelaide’s exciting late-season charge had taken it close to a preliminary final and although there had been positives, blowing another opportunity was frustrating for fans and the club.

A new-look Adelaide showed promise in the opening round when it held on to defeat Collingwood by four points at the MCG. Taylor Walker, Myke Cook and Jared Petrenko made their AFL debuts in the memorable win and Trent Hentschel played his first home-and-away game since wrecking a knee late in the 2006 season.

Adelaide, however, then lost its first four home games, and three consecutive losses left it in 12th spot with only three wins after eight rounds.

The revival began with a 44-point win against Carlton at AAMI Stadium in round nine and an exciting brand of football emerged as the team enjoyed a run of seven consecutive wins.

One of these was a classic against Essendon at Etihad Stadium, when veteran Tyson Edwards became the fourth Crow to reach the 300-game milestone.

After a huge week of media commitments and publicity – and with nearly 50 family and friends in the stands – Edwards was still able to perform at his best. The reliable midfielder collected an equal career-high 41 possessions, made 10 tackles and had nine clearances to play a key role in Adelaide recovering from a 26-point deficit late in the opening term to win by 16 points. Tall forward Kurt Tippett kicked seven goals, but Edwards received the three Brownlow Medal votes.

Adelaide was capable of scoring heavily but also defended fiercely. In round 15 the Crows held Fremantle to a record low 1.7 to win by 117 points.

St Kilda ended the winning streak the following week and Adelaide also lost games in August against Geelong and Collingwood but it entered its fifth consecutive finals series in good form with three consecutive wins to complete the minor round.

This was despite losing defender Nathan Bock (fractured heel) – who won the Showdown Medal in round 17 – and Nathan van Berlo (back).

In round 22 Adelaide won a shoot-out with Carlton by 72 points to secure fifth spot and a home final. Brett Burton celebrated by taking the AFL Mark of the Year at Etihad Stadium. He had returned from a knee reconstruction only a few weeks earlier.

The Crows then smashed Essendon by 96 points in the elimination final at AAMI Stadium. Midfielder Bernie Vince brushed off some heavy opposition attention to star as Adelaide took over the contest with an eight-goal second quarter. The goals kept coming, with Jason Porplyzia kicking five and Tippett four.

Next stop was the semi-final at the MCG. Adelaide sprinted to a 29-point lead at quarter-time with some irresistible football. Collingwood steadied in the second term but the Crows still led by 26 points at half-time.

The match suddenly changed direction when the Magpies added six unanswered goals in the third quarter to be ten points ahead at the last break.

Adelaide finally responded with the first three goals of the last term, Collingwood regained the lead with the next two majors, and then Tippett’s third goal of the term gave the Crows a one-point lead deep in time on.

The heartbreaking finish came after Andy Otten appeared to take a game-saving defensive mark. But a free kick had been given against Ben Rutten to Collingwood’s Jack Anthony and he goaled from 40 metres.

Craig said: “In the end, we were not capable of doing enough correct things to be able to finish off a pretty entertaining game of football.”

Captain Simon Goodwin was named an All Australian (at half-back) for the fifth time in 2009. Vince and Porplyzia were also named in the squad but did not make the final 22.

But Vince later celebrated his 24th birthday by winning Adelaide’s 2009 Club Champion award. He clinched his first Malcolm Blight Medal with 43 votes, breaking clear of runner up Porplyzia, Goodwin and Michael Doughty in the last game of the season.

Vince, who polled votes in 22 of the 24 games, became the 12th player to win the Adelaide award since 1991. He also received the 19th Man Award voted by the members as the Most Valuable Player and polled 13 Brownlow Medal votes.

Patrick Dangerfield’s first full year living in Adelaide had some exciting moments and ended with recognition as the winner of the Mark Bickley award. Defender Andy Otten won the club’s Emerging Talent award and finished runner-up to Brisbane’s Daniel Rich in the AFL Rising Star award.

Brad Symes recovered from a nasty pre-season accident at training to return to the AFL side late in the season and win the Best Team Man award.

For the first time Adelaide had two players kicking more than 50 goals – Porplyzia (57) and Tippett (55) – while half-forward Chris Knights booted 43 in his best season for the club.

Some young Crows had a taste of AFL but a couple were hit by season-ending injuries. Rookie Brodie Martin made his debut in round 16 but ruptured an ACL the following week and Shaun McKernan played his first game against Richmond on the Gold Coast in round 14 but broke an arm at training the next week.

Broken Hill recruit Walker kicked 23 goals in 14 games and finished the season strongly in the SANFL finals and 2008 draftee Rory Sloane played one AFL game, against Hawthorn at the MCG in round 20.

Awards and Achievements

All Australian: Simon Goodwin

Best Team Man: Brad Symes

Mark Bickley Award: Patrick Dangerfield

Members 19th Man MVP: Bernie Vince

Leading goalkicker: Jason Porplyzia

Emerging Talent: Andy Otten

Club Coach’s Award: Jason Porplyzia

Showdown Medal: Nathan Bock (round 17).

AFL Mark of the Year: Brett Burton

AFC Life Membership: Brett Burton, Barrie Downs, Trevor Jaques

Other news

• Rob Chapman replaced Bill Sanders as Adelaide Football Club chairman at the end of 2008.
• Adelaide recruited its first Irishman as a rookie late in 2008 after inviting Brian Donnelly to Australia to try the sport. A Gaelic footballer from County Louth, Donnelly started playing with Glenelg’s reserves in the SANFL in 2009 and made steady progress learning the game and developing his skills.
• Andrew McLeod played against the Crows in Darwin in February, when he led the Indigenous All Stars to a 54-point win.
• McLeod played his 313th AFL game in round nine to pass Mark Ricciuto’s club games record (in Indigenous Round)
• Adelaide introduced its “19th Man” campaign to highlight the importance of the club’s thousands of supporters. The No 19 guernsey was retired and handed to the members to symbolise their importance to team success.
• John Reid retired at the end of the season after 14 years as General Manager, Football Operations.
• Adelaide’s two-time premiership captain Mark Bickley was added to the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Bickley became just the second Crow, behind former teammate Darren Jarman, and the first of the 52-strong inaugural squad of 1991 to receive the prestigious honour. He played 272 games with Adelaide between 1991 and 2003.
• Adelaide’s new training and entertainment facility, including a new “Shed”, was officially opened in October.

List changes

In: Phil Davis (North Adelaide), Tom Lee (Claremont), Shaun McKernan (Calder U18s), Rory Sloane (Eastern U18s), Will Young (North Ballarat), Jared Petrenko (upgraded rookie), Ricky Henderson (rookie, North Ballarat), Chris Schmidt (rookie, West Adelaide), Brian Donnelly (rookie, County Louth).

Out: Nathan Bassett (retired), Rhett Biglands (retired), Ken McGregor (retired), Bryce Campbell, Luke Jericho, Kris Massie, Ed Curnow (rookie).

First game players

Myke Cook, v Collingwood at the MCG, 28/3/09 (debut order 163)

Jared Petrenko, v Collingwood at the MCG, 28/3/09 (164)

Taylor Walker, v Collingwood at the MCG, 28/3/09 (165)

Shaun McKernan, v Richmond at Carrara (Gold Coast), 4/7/09 (166)

Brodie Martin, v St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, 19/7/09 (167)

Rory Sloane, v Hawthorn at the MCG, 14/8/09 (168)

Related links

Mark Bickley was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame

Life Members 2009