He has the scalps of Steve Johnson and Kieren Jack already during the finals and a bunch of other elite midfielders from the home and away matches.
On the eve of the Grand Final, those who have watched him from up close tell AFL.com.au about what Sam Mitchell, or any of the other Hawthorn prime movers can expect from Crowley on Saturday afternoon.
GARY ABLETT: He's done a fantastic job this year, given a role and done the job on some really good players. I reckon he'll go to Sam Mitchell, who showed how damaging he can be on the weekend. I think Ryan gets a lot of help from his teammates because they're the best defensive side in the competition and if Sam does get away from him, Ryan will have teammates running to help him. Irrespective, Sam is a terrific player and I'm sure he will get a lot of the ball.
MARC MURPHY: He got me this year. He's obviously extremely fit and I think he's one of their strongest with the bench press, so he's hard to shake that way. He's pretty diligent with his work, did well on Kieren on Saturday night, which is a fair effort. The Hawks should try to get the ball to Ryan's opponent as often as they can because that might get Ryan thinking. All the best to whoever he takes on Saturday.
PATRICK DANGERFIELD: I took Ryan deep to try and get him playing out of the goalsquare. There is the ability to do that, but I think he'll go to Sam Mitchell, whose greatest asset is his lateral movement inside a stoppage, so it will be a tough assignment for both players. Ryan's No.1 strength is whatever he does, he never loses sight of his opponent. He never goes kick chasing and has a narrow focus.
NATHAN JONES: I'm not sure what the Hawthorn blokes can do. He's got my measure at the moment … we had a couple of games where we broke even but the last time he got me. I think they're such a team unit and he's a great player, but his role gets enhanced by how well they defend as a team. Obviously the Hawks will need to be on and the better they use the ball, the easier it will be for whoever he's on.
DANIEL HANNEBERY: Obviously he's an incredible tagger and he's had a really good year. I played on him earlier in the year and I got him a few times, but after that he didn't take a backwards step. It's a real credit to him, he works very hard, he's a disciplined player and the Hawks will have to work really hard to support whoever he's playing on. He's a strong runner, got himself a lot leaner and he's got a great coach in Brett Kirk who has really helped him out. It will take a great effort from one of the Hawks' mids to get on top of him on Saturday.
DANIEL JACKSON: We're both taggers, so we wouldn't waste time playing on each other. But we have crossed paths a few times. Good teams have a shutdown player and he's a good player. He does a good job and he plays within the rules. He might push them a few times, but we all do and in the end the umpires do the game and they do it very well. He's just a solid player at what he does.
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