Adelaide’s famous number 9 has officially joined Nine, with former Crows Captain Rory Sloane to join the network as AFL expert commentator in 2025. 

The 2016 All-Australian representative and two-time Crows best and fairest, played 255 AFL games and retired following the 2024 season as one of the game’s most widely admired and respected leaders.

He makes the switch from the playing field into various roles within Australia’s largest media company, joining the panels of the AFL Sunday Footy Show and Footy Classified, as well as weekly contributions to 9News Adelaide and radio commentary on 3AW football.

“It’s a great opportunity and I’m incredibly excited to join the team, growing up as a kid my whole Sunday was centred around the Wide World of Sports, so to now be joining them is quite an honour and the realisation of a dream,” said Sloane.

“I’m really keen to bring my personality, thoughts and views on all things footy. Throughout my playing career I’ve spent a lot of time analysing the game, coaching the midfield and identifying where the trends and edges over the opposition are. I want to share those with the audience and some views that they may not have had previously.

“With so much media experience within the Nine Footy team, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from them while bringing the average age of the Footy Show down at the same time.”

Nine Director of Sport, Brent Williams, said: “As a player, Rory Sloane always led by example. His courage and fearless leadership drew respect and admiration from all AFL fans, no matter who you barracked for. We are thrilled to be welcoming the Adelaide Crows great into the Wide World of Sports family and look forward to his contribution across all of our platforms.” 

Director of 9News Adelaide, Jeremy Pudney, said: “Rory Sloane was a champion player and one of the things that made him a great of the Adelaide Football Club, was his understanding of the game. We are thrilled that his insight and knowledge will now be shared with 9News Adelaide’s audience and that Rory will be a part of our already outstanding weekly AFL coverage.”

Nine is committed to delivering comprehensive AFL coverage every week, with two episodes of Footy Classified, The Sunday Footy Show and Footy Furnace ensuring fans stay connected to every moment of the game.

Sunday, January 5, 2025