Football seasons are occasionally defined by one player.
2009 was the Gary Ablett Jr season.
2017 was Dustin Martin season.
2024 was the Isaac Heeney season.
After his 32-disposal and 3-goal dismembering of the Bulldogs, 2026 is threatening to be the Jordan Dawson season.
In a year defined by unimaginable tragedy, Jordan Dawson’s footy has completely transformed the Crows’ season and has put them on a path to seriously threaten for a flag this year and definitely next if the Zac Bailey rumours are true.
While he’s been good all year, a change in role over his last five games has driven the Crows to heights I didn’t think they were capable early this season.
Dawson’s year, and his shift from being a defensive mid to an attacking mid halfway through, has been like taking Andy from Parks and Rec from kind of a side character to a central piece and has elevated the whole show around it.
Early in the year, Dawson was almost playing as a sweeper in midfield who was responsible for driving the Crows kick-heavy rebound game.
For the first half of the year, Dawson was getting about 13 of his 22 possessions in the defensive half and was the Crows fourth heaviest rebound 50 player. He was essentially the transition answer for the loss of Mark Keane.
The Crows suffered for it.
While Dawson is obviously a beautiful kick and diligent defensive player, it was like playing Nestory Irankunda at full back. It was definitionally robbing Peter to pay Paul.
They lacked inside 50 connection and missed Dawson’s particular brand of high-damage football closer to goal.
However, over the last five games, that’s flipped massively.
That’s freed up Dawson to get significantly more ball closer to goal. Over the last five, he’s getting 13 of his 26 touches a game in the front half including, crucially, 3.5 inside 50.
I say crucially for the forward 50 touches because Dawson is essentially another key forward when he goes inside 50. He and Isaac Heeney are probably the best midfield overhead marks since Jimmy Bartel, so sending Dawson down to play as a genuine forward occasionally is a real threat unlike when someone like Cripps goes down there.
In addition, freeing up Dawson to play some key forward has meant the Crows have functioned with Riley Thilthorpe and either Darcy Fogarty or Taylor Walker without sacrificing their inside 50 pressure. They now get their preferred three tall structure without necessarily playing all three talls.
For Dawson personally, the move has translated to 9 goals in that period alongside 7 score involvements a game. He is among the 15 highest scoreboard impact players in the league over the last 5 games. He and Isaac Heeney are the only two genuine midfielders inside the top 25.
For the Crows as a whole, the Dawson forward play has coincided with going from 49% time in front half for the season to 51% over the last five games, and 12.5 tackles inside 50 to 15.6 which is a clear league leading mark.
The Crows also haven’t lost anything from their back half game as they’ve discovered that that you’re allowed to handball.
Matthew Nicks has always been a kick heavy coach, and he still is, but the Crows have gone from 143 handballs a game for the year to 160 over the last five. While they’re still last in handball metres gained, they’ve started handballing far more to the runners, with both Rory Laird and Wayne Milera now over 10 handball receives a game over the last five.
Starting to encourage that drive and momentum into their back half game has been like discovering that you’re allowed to not play a game on hard mode. The momentum they’ve introduced into their game has meant that they don’t need the sweet kicking Dawson biting off miracles every time they want to move the ball.
While they’re scoring about the same amount from the back half over the past five compared to the rest of the year, they’re taking the ball from D50 to F50 at a far better clip. For the year, they’ve been fourth worst but over the last five, as they’ve introduced the handball, they’ve been seventh best with about a quarter of their D50 exits making their forward 50.
Jordan Dawson’s pivot from defensive midfield to a more attacking midfield role has coincided with everything going better for the Crows, even with Izak Rankine barely playing over that period.
He is the skeleton key that makes this all go.
It’s a credit to Matthew Nicks that he’s shifted his game significantly to ensure that his best player, and one of the very best players in the competition, is able to ply his trade closer to goal.
If the Crows make a Grand Final, Jordan Dawson will be at the centre of it. It will be, truly, the Jordan Dawson season.