# Adam Saad

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.

## 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.
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. 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

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.
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. At Essendon, Saad showed his durability by only missing one game in three seasons. He slotted into the backline, used his pace to full effort, and was inventive in moving the ball forward. Saad claimed third place in the club's Crichton Medal count in 2019.
Saad requested a trade to Carlton after the 2020 season, and he was traded on 11 November. Saad kicked his first goal for Carlton in the Blues' round 7, 2021 win against his old side Essendon.
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, 2018, 2021 and 2022; 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. 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.

## Personal life

Saad is a practising Muslim. He is of Lebanese descent.

## Statistics

Updated to the end of 2022.
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Averages (per game) | Averages (per game) | Averages (per game) | Averages (per game) | Averages (per game) | Averages (per game) | Averages (per game) | Votes |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | Votes |
| 2015 | Gold Coast | 42 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 121 | 151 | 272 | 66 | 44 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 7.6 | 9.4 | 17.0 | 4.1 | 2.8 | 3 |
| 2016 | Gold Coast | 42 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 75 | 76 | 151 | 36 | 25 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 15.1 | 3.6 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2017 | Gold Coast | 42 | 22 | 2 | 7 | 194 | 171 | 365 | 78 | 50 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 8.8 | 7.8 | 16.6 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 1 |
| 2018 | Essendon | 42 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 199 | 178 | 377 | 56 | 55 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 9.0 | 8.1 | 17.1 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 3 |
| 2019 | Essendon | 42 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 239 | 149 | 388 | 62 | 75 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 10.9 | 6.8 | 17.6 | 2.8 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 2020 | Essendon | 42 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 202 | 119 | 321 | 49 | 34 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 11.9 | 7.0 | 18.9 | 2.9 | 2.0 | 2 |
| 2021 | Carlton | 42 | 22 | 2 | 6 | 311 | 113 | 424 | 72 | 39 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 14.1 | 5.1 | 19.3 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2022 | Carlton | 42 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 323 | 136 | 459 | 100 | 47 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 15.4 | 6.5 | 22 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 3 |
| Career | Career | Career | 152 | 10 | 21 | 1664 | 1093 | 2757 | 519 | 369 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 10.9 | 7.2 | 18.1 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 12 |
Notes
* ↑ 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.