Adam Saad

Last updated

Adam Saad
Adam Saad 2018.2.jpg
Saad playing for Essendon in August 2018
Personal information
Full name Adam Saad
Born (1994-07-23) 23 July 1994 (age 31)
Original team Coburg (VFL)
Draft No. 25, 2015 rookie draft
Height 178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 76 kg (168 lb)
Position Defender
Club information
Current club Carlton
Number 42
Playing career1
YearsClubGames (Goals)
2015–2017 Gold Coast 48 (3)
2018–2020 Essendon 61 (5)
2021– Carlton 107 (4)
Total216 (12)
Representative team honours
YearsTeamGames (Goals)
2020 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2025.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Adam Saad (born 23 July 1994) is an Australian rules footballer currently playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League. He previously played for the Gold Coast Suns and the Essendon Football Club.

Contents

Early career

As a junior, Saad first played for West Coburg Football Club in the Essendon District Football League. He was part of the club's under-18s premiership in 2010, where he was coached by Phil Cleary. [1]

Saad joined Coburg in 2013 following a TAC Cup stint with the Calder Cannons. After appearing to struggle between Senior and Development level football, he established himself as one of the VFL's leading small defenders, winning the Coburg best and fairest award in 2014 sharing in a tie with Daniel Venditti, and was named in the 2014 VFL Team of the Year. [2] His strong form and State Combine testing led him to being drafted to the Gold Coast Suns with pick 25 in the 2015 rookie draft.

AFL career

Gold Coast

Saad made his debut for the Gold Coast Suns in round 1 of the 2015 season and kicked one goal in a defeat to Melbourne. In round 5, 2015, Saad was nominated for the Rising Star after his team's win over the Brisbane Lions where he had 26 touches.[ citation needed ]

Following the 2017 season, Saad requested and was granted a trade to Essendon, who sent their 2018 second round draft pick to the Gold Coast in return.

Essendon

Following his impressive first two seasons, in which he placed fourth and third in the Crichton Medal, Saad and Essendon opened contract talks on the eve of the 2020 season about a long-term extension, with a four-year deal expected to be agreed in the short term. [3] However, after round 1 of the season, the league was forced to shut itself down indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the AFL placing an indefinite embargo on any new player contracts as it seeked to come to terms with the financial ramifications of the situation. The AFL resumed it's season in early June, but didn't lift the contract embargo until mid-July. [4] Essendon struggled for form during this period, and by the time the contract embargo had been lifted, Saad was less sure about re-signing with the Bombers than he had been in March.

At the end of the season, Saad shocked Essendon by requesting a trade to their fierce rivals, Carlton, only three years after seeking out Essendon to recruit him. [5]

Carlton

Saad kicked his first goal for Carlton in the Blues' round 7, 2021 win against his old side Essendon.[ citation needed ]

Through his career, Saad has been known for his dashing pace, and propensity to run long distances with the ball, frequently bouncing it. He led the league in bounces in 2017, [6] 2018, [7] 2021 [8] and 2022; [9] in both 2018 and 2022, his tally of bounces more than doubled his nearest rival. As of 2024, he holds the record for highest average running bounces per game since statistics were first recorded in 1999, with 3.46 per game. [10] He has a long left-foot kick, and during his time at Carlton, the spectators would shout "woof!" whenever he took a kick; he was the fifth long-kicking left footed Carlton player to receive this traditional treatment, which had originated with Val Perovic in the 1980s. [11]

Personal life

Saad is a practising Muslim. He is of Lebanese descent. [12]

Statistics

Updated to the end of the 2025 season. [13]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals  
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds  
  H  
 Handballs  
  M  
 Marks
SeasonTeamNo.GamesTotalsAverages (per game) Votes
GBKHDMTGBKHDMT
2015 Gold Coast 42161212115127266440.10.17.69.417.04.12.83
2016 Gold Coast 421002757615136250.00.27.57.615.13.62.50
2017 Gold Coast 42222719417136578500.10.38.87.816.63.52.31
2018 Essendon 42220319917837756550.00.19.08.117.12.52.53
2019 Essendon 42223023914938862750.10.010.96.817.62.83.40
2020 [a] Essendon 42172120211932149340.10.111.97.018.92.92.02
2021 Carlton 42222631111342472390.10.314.15.119.33.31.80
2022 Carlton 422100323136459100470.00.015.46.521.94.82.23
2023 Carlton 422500341161502111480.00.013.66.420.14.41.93
2024 Carlton 42181121711333070400.10.112.16.318.33.92.20
2025 Carlton 42211126411437861530.00.012.65.418.02.92.50
Career21612232485148139667615100.10.111.56.918.43.52.415

Notes

  1. ↑ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ↑ "Phil Cleary's Biography". Platinum Speakers and Entertainers. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  2. ↑ Ratcliffe, Damien (3 December 2014). "Coburg flyer Adam Saad headed to Gold Coast after being chosen in rookie draft". Moreland Leader.
  3. ↑ "Lock him in: Dons make move on dashing defender". AFL Media. 4 March 2020.
  4. ↑ "The pick of the AFL's uncontracted players". The Age. 24 July 2020.
  5. ↑ "Bomber wants out: Speedster set for trade to arch-rival". AFL Media. 6 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "2017 Player Totals". AFL Tables. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "2018 Player Totals". AFL Tables. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  8. ↑ "2021 Player Totals". AFL Tables. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  9. ↑ "2022 Player Totals". AFL Tables. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Career Totals and Averages". AFL Tables. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Tony de Bolfo (5 July 2022). "From Val to Ang to Adam: The story of the "Woof!"". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  12. ↑ Gleeson, Michael (2 June 2019). "'My family and my religion is everything': fast break with Adam Saad". The Age. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "Adam Saad". AFL Tables. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.