AF 2015 Profile: Brad Crouch

[Mr.Craig]

Brad Crouch



14/1/94 185cm/84kg Midfielder

Career Games - 25

2014 Averages - 11.4 kicks, 13.4 handballs, 2.4 marks, 5.6 tackles

2013 AF Ave: 92.1
2014 AF Ave: 92.5

2014 Scores - 50, 96, 87, 107, 101, 95, 106, 118, 95, 99, 64

Red Vest
Scores Over 100


Profile

Crouch's 2014 season was interrupted by a broken leg but he followed on from a stellar debut year to produce some excellent performances. He's just 25 games into his AFL career but has gone 100+ 11 times already, which is in the same ballpark as Michael Barlow's 13/25 start. It seems like the sky is the limit for Brad but there are a couple of key issues which could hamper his progress towards being a fantasy premium. Firstly his marking numbers are poor, he was ranked a lowly 524th in the league for marks in 2014 compared to the likes of Selwood (164th), Watson (136th), Heppell (81st) and Sidebottom (49th). He also has a poor kick/handball ratio and these two issues combined lead to situations like Round 17 against Hawthorn where he amassed 40 disposals for a score of just 101.

These negatives are due to his contested game and lack of spread from the stoppages. Hopefully in time he can improve his running and find the space to gather more marks and kicks but in the short term it's going to keep him behind players such as the ones I mentioned above. On the plus side, if you remove his first and last game of the year Brad was incredibly consistent with his scoring even if the high ceiling wasn't there.

Pros - Gets plenty of ball, good tackle numbers, should benefit next year if he plays a full season

Cons - Poor kick/handball ratio, poor marking numbers, his brother stealing stats off him  :P


Prediction - 94-98

Inside Football Player Rating - http://www.aflplayerratings.com.au/Ratings/Player/117166/Brad-CROUCH
Adelaide Profile - http://www.afc.com.au/player-profile/brad-crouch

[kilbluff1985]

going to be an elite player

his brother getting more games may affect him though next year

going to be good watching them play together for next 10 years

[pommyadam]

surely you can't read too much into that "marking numbers are poor" given that he missed half the season

too expensive for mind, but may consider if he drops in price (as a solid M7 to M9)

[Sweetness]

Risky POD option.
Loves to get his hands on the ball, generally at the bottom of a pack to dish out the handball.

Can see him as the 2009-2013 Priddis of the next few years, where he is around the 100 mark but the lack of cheap outside ball limits his big scoring.

[Ricochet]

Probably too expensive to take a risk on but he will be elite one day soon.
Nice writeup again mate