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Matt Crouch
Matt Crouch
	Crouch playing for Adelaide in April 2017
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Crouch
Date of birth	21 April 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Original team(s)	Ballarat Football Club (Junior Football); Beaufort (CHFL); North Ballarat Rebels (TAC Cup)
Draft	No. 23, 2013 national draft
Debut	Round 3, 2014, Adelaide vs. Sydney, at Adelaide Oval
Height	181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Adelaide
Number	5
Playing career1
Years	Club
2014–	Adelaide
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
	All-Australian team: 2017; Malcolm Blight Medal: 2017; Showdown Medal: Round 22, 2016; 22under22 team: 2017; 2014 AFL Rising Star nominee;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Matt Crouch (born 21 April 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Adelaide Football Club with pick 23 in the 2013 national draft. Crouch won the Malcolm Blight Medal in 2017, a year where Adelaide finished first on the ladder.^[1] He is the younger brother of former teammate Brad Crouch.^[2]

AFL career

Crouch made his AFL debut for the Crows in round 3 of the 2014 season, collecting 18 disposals in a heavy loss to Sydney.^[3] Crouch earned a nomination for the AFL Rising Star after having 28 disposals to three quarter time against Greater Western Sydney, at which point he was substituted out of the game.^[4] In total Crouch played eight matches in his first year in the AFL, and averaged 33 possessions and 8 clearances in ten matches for Adelaide's reserves side, polling 12 votes in the Magarey Medal.^[5]

Crouch had an interrupted 2015 pre-season due to an ankle injury suffered just prior to Christmas.^[6] He recovered to have a breakout year, playing 17 games including Adelaide's two finals and averaging 21 possessions. At the end of the season he was rewarded with the club's Mark Bickley Emerging Talent Award.^[7] He also signed a three-year contract with Adelaide after the 2015 season, keeping him at the club until 2018.^[8]

In 2017, Crouch lifted his game to a new level, averaging 33 disposals per game and finishing second in the AFL for disposals after the regular season, and during the finals broke Dane Swan's AFL record for most disposals in a complete season with 825. He was selected in the 2017 All-Australian team and nominated by his club for the AFL Players Association MVP Award.^[9] In late August, Crouch was named The Age's Player of the Year and won the Malcolm Blight Medal as Adelaide Football Club's best and fairest winner for 2017.^[10]^[1] In January 2018 Crouch re-signed with the Crows until the end of 2021.^[11]

Crouch sat out the 2021 AFL season due to a groin injury. After speculation that Matt Crouch would depart the Crows with his free agency rights, Crouch re-signed at Adelaide for two years, keeping him at the club until the end of 2023. Crouch returned to the AFL in round one of the 2022 AFL season against the Fremantle Dockers and did so with great success, collecting a cool 30 disposals.^[12]

In 2024, Crouch was back to his best form, averaging 30 disposals for the year. His season looked to be cut short after requiring shoulder surgery from an injury sustained in the round 12 loss to Hawthorn.^[13] However, Crouch made a miraculous recovery and returned to the side in round 21 against Geelong.^[14] Following the Crows' loss to Port Adelaide in the round 23 Showdown, Crouch was seen on video knocking off the hat of a supporter. A police investigation was conducted regarding allegations that the interaction could be classed as assault, but all charges were dropped.^[15]^[16]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to end of 2024.^[17]

**Legend**
G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks
†	Led the league for the season


Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)							Votes
Season	Team	No.	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	Votes
2014	Adelaide	44	8	3	2	63	69	132	26	26	0.4	0.3	7.9	8.6	16.5	3.3	3.3	0
2015	Adelaide	44	17	2	6	145	212	357	45	57	0.1	0.4	8.5	12.5	21.0	2.7	3.4	0
2016	Adelaide	44	22	5	3	250	359	609	75	100	0.2	0.1	11.3	16.3	27.6	3.4	4.5	7
2017	Adelaide	44	25	7	7	345	480	825^†	76	119	0.3	0.3	13.8	19.2	33.0	3.0	4.8	11
2018	Adelaide	5	18	2	3	249	331	580	69	70	0.1	0.2	13.8	18.4	32.2	3.8	3.9	8
2019	Adelaide	5	19	7	4	270	350	620	77	65	0.4	0.2	14.2	18.4	32.6	4.1	3.4	8
2020	Adelaide	5	16	2	3	162	256	418	44	74	0.1	0.2	10.1	16.0	26.1	2.8	4.6	3
2021	Adelaide	5	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2022	Adelaide	5	11	0	0	115	186	301	39	44	0	0	10.5	16.9	27.4	3.6	4.0	0
2023	Adelaide	5	7	2	0	55	132	187	18	35	0.3	0.0	7.9	18.9	26.7	2.6	5.0	0
2024	Adelaide	5	15	0	2	155	294	449	62	79	0.0	0.1	10.3	19.6^†	29.9	4.1	5.3	4
Career			158	30	30	1810	2669	4479	531	669	0.2	0.2	11.5	16.9	28.4	3.4	4.2	41