As we put Shane Crawford under the Sunday Spotlight, we take a look back at the five best performances of his career.

Did we miss any?

"I'll be honest: I was absolutely packing my dacks!"

Round 2 1993 vs Sydney
23 possessions, nine marks, three tackles and five goals

Shane Crawford made a strong start to his AFL career, racking up 19 touches, eight marks and a goal in Round 1 of 1993. But it was his performance a week later that truly put his name up in lights and gave fans a glimpse of what they could expect from this boy from Finley for the next 15 years. This game against Sydney was a bizarre one. The Hawks led by a point at quarter time, the Swans were up by four points at the main break and then it was all square at the final change. If someone told you at that point that the Hawks would ultimately win by 57 points, you would have been irresponsible not to take them to a doctor. But, that’s exactly what happened. The second-gamer Crawford and the much more-experienced Jason Dunstall combined for 11 goals to end up delivering a comfortable victory for their side. And, interestingly, for the next 303 games of his career, Crawf would never again kick five goals in a game!

Round 19 1999 vs Melbourne
30 possessions, seven inside 50s, six clearances and three goals

Arguably the best performance of his Brownlow-winning year, Shane Crawford was simply unstoppable in this meeting with the Demons. A month shy of his 25^th birthday, it was performances such as these in 1999 that saw him go from a good player across the competition to a great one. The thing that sets this game apart from others in this stellar season was his impact forward of centre – not only did he kick three goals of his own but he also racked up seven forward 50 entries. This was also the third game in a five-week period where Crawf earned 14 of a possible 15 Brownlow votes, averaging 34.4 possessions and 2.2 goals.

Round 7 2002 vs Geelong
30 possessions, 10 inside 50s and four goals

After opening the 2002 season in relatively uninspiring fashion, Hawthorn needed a win against the Cats in this Round 7 match-up. Introducing Shane Crawford. The Hawks captain ran riot all day in this one, having an impact in every area of the ground for the Hawks. Mark Thompson’s side simply had no answer for Crawford on this day who was amidst his fourth and final All Australian season.

Round 21 2003 vs Carlton
34 possessions, nine marks, nine inside 50s and a goal

Hawthorn might have been a very outside chance of qualifying for finals at this point in the 2003 season, but it didn’t stop Crawford and his teammates from giving that miracle a red-hot crack. Crawford was superb in this three Brownlow vote effort, gathering clearly the most possessions on the ground as the Hawks punished a struggling Carlton line-up.

Grand Final 2008 vs Geelong
25 possessions, four marks, four rebound 50s and three tackles

One last dance for Crawf, and what a sweet, sweet dance it was. In the final game of his illustrious career, Crawford finally achieved one of the few accomplishments that had eluded him across his previous 17 years as a Hawk. Crawford may have been on his last legs but the courageous number nine still managed to have an influence in his final game in the brown and gold, collecting 25 disposals to be among the Hawks’ leading ball-getters. That’s what I’m talking about!

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