IMMENSE.

There is simply no better word to describe Adelaide midfielder Rory Sloane.

Going into the year, question marks had understandably surrounded the club’s 2016 campaign.

The departure of Patrick Dangerfield threw immediate finals chances into doubt, while the exit of another high-profile star might have had more significant long-term implications for the club.

Round 18

However, Crows fans had no reason to fear.

Under the guidance of one of the side’s spiritual leaders in Sloane, the team has thrived and now looms as not only a genuine top-four contender, but a legitimate premiership chance.

Sloane represents something larger than just a gun footballer in a well-functioning Adelaide midfield. His presence and commitment within each and every contest is immeasurable.

His rate of improvement this season has been rapid. And to do it in a campaign where his side perhaps needed it more than ever defines its significance.

Quite simply, there is no player more important to any team in the competition at the moment than the 26-year-old is to the Crows.

Rory Sloane is having a career-best year. Source: FOX SPORTS

Sloane provides the grunt work that the team desperately requires to force the ball out of the middle and into the hands of one of the league’s best forward lines.

The hard-nosed midfielder is the first to burrow into every stoppage. This season, he is averaging career-high in disposals (24.8 per game), clearances (4.6), tackles (7.7) and contested possessions (13.2).

On the rare occasion when he’s not winning first use, he’s not allowing the opposition to do anything with the footy either. In addition to ranking second in the entire competition for tackles, Sloane is also ranked second by Champion Data for pressure acts applied (63.8 per game).

But it’s not just the brute physicality of Sloane that is inspiring the Crows out of the middle. He is also proving a class act forward of centre.

The Eastern Ranges product is averaging career-high score involvements (7.7 per game), ranked 10th in the entire competition.

Rory Sloane tackles great mate and former teammate Patrick Dangerfield. Picture: Calum Robertson. Source: News Corp Australia

Sloane’s consistency has also been a major factor in Adelaide’s rise up the ladder this season.

He is one of only five players in the league to have scored over 80 Champion Data ranking points in each and every game this year.

Only Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury, Sydney’s Dan Hannebery, Carlton’s Kade Simpson and the Giants’ Dylan Shiel join Sloane in this elite company.

Not even Dangerfield has achieved such a feat this season.

Now, a growing number believe Sloane is capable of challenging his former teammate for footy’s biggest individual honour.

“He could well do (challenge Dangerfield) and he’d be a very worth Brownlow Medal winner,” former champion Gerard Healy said during Fox Footy’s coverage over the weekend.

“You look at those numbers and they’re up in every department, but he’s coming off an outstanding base. This is a guy that’s been a gun for a long period of time.

“Incredibly, he was overlooked by a lot of clubs. I think he was a mid-40s draft pick after being captain of the Eastern Ranges.

“He just reminds me of one of the all-time great midfielders in Wayne Schimmelbusch from the Kangaroos. This bloke was as hard as nails, he had a massive heart and he never gave in.

“He was one of the great workers in the competition, a premiership hero and a Hall of Famer. He wasn’t the most skilled, but he was one of the most effective.”

It’s high praise for a player that is quickly becoming one of the AFL’s most respected players.

But it’s no less than the Crow deserves.