Bryce Gibbs set a new Club record at Etihad on Friday night with his 35 disposals surpassing dual premiership player Brett James’ mark of 33 in his 1997 Club debut. Simon Tregenza amassed 31 touches in the Club’s first ever game, Round One 1991.  

Gibbs also had a team-high eight inside 50ms to go alongside seven clearances which included a game-high four centre clearances  

Matt Crouch was the leading possession-getter on the ground with 41. This is the second time Crouch has passed the 40-possession mark. He recorded 45 touches against West Coast in Round 23 last year.

Defender Rory Laird was close behind, equalling his career high of 40, 15 of which were intercept possessions which ranks second across the League for Round One.

Laird was the 10th ranked player across the League for Round One according to Champion Data with 136.5 ranking points. Swan Lance Franklin topped the competition with 175.4.

First-gamer Darcy Fogarty became the 144th player in AFL/VFL history to slot a goal with his first kick at the top level. He joins the likes of current captain Taylor Walker (Round One, 2009) and new recruit Bryce Gibbs (Round One, 2007) in achieving this feat.

Fogarty’s impressive conversion rate was in full effect during the JLT Community Series when his first three kicks all resulted in majors.

Three of the four players running out for Adelaide for the first time all kicked goals, with new recruit Bryce Gibbs slotting two and debutant Lachie Murphy joining first round draft pick Fogarty with one.

12 debutants from a possible 21 across the League kicked goals in Round One, the most in a single round since the opening round of 1988

There may have been something in the air with the Etihad Stadium roof remaining open, of the 28 behinds kicked, 16 were missed to the left. Eight misses were recorded to the right to go along with three posters and a touched behind.

The second half was in itself a tale of two halves, with Adelaide piling on seven goals to three in the third term before Essendon came home strongly with six to one in the final quarter.

Adelaide was unable to capitalise on centre clearances, a stat they led 40 to 32 despite Essendon recording seven more inside 50ms.

Essendon looked to run and carry across the quick deck, recording 14 running bounces to Adelaide’s 10. Usual suspects Connor McKenna (5) and Adam Saad (3) led the way for the Bombers.

Adelaide stand-in skipper Rory Sloane finished with an equal game-high seven tackles.

Friday night’s result sees the ledger between Adelaide and Essendon squared at 19 wins all.

Match statistics
Disposals
Adelaide – 387
Essendon – 391

Disposal efficiency
Adelaide – 76.5%
Essendon – 75.2%

Kicks
Adelaide – 204
Essendon – 214

Handballs
Adelaide – 183
Essendon – 177

Clearances
Adelaide – 40
Essendon – 32

Inside 50ms
Adelaide – 53
Essendon – 60

Contested possessions
Adelaide – 142
Essendon – 156

Uncontested possessions
Adelaide – 242
Essendon – 246

Tackles
Adelaide – 50
Essendon – 69

Hit-outs
Adelaide – 37
Essendon – 39