Nathan van Berlo

AFL career

Van Berlo made his debut in 2005 aged just 18, playing 11 games in the season and averaging just over seven disposals a game. He became a regular the following season, missing five matches due to a broken collarbone but returning to play out the season. In 2007, van Berlo cemented a place in the starting 22, averaging 19 disposals per game and coming equal seventh in the club Best and Fairest. By this stage, van Berlo was a regular performer in Adelaide's young midfield noted for his high fitness level.

After the retirement of Simon Goodwin, at the end of the 2010 season, van Berlo was selected to become the captain of the club in the 2011 season. He performed solidly in his first year as captain, finishing second in the Malcolm Blight Medal playing in defence and in the midfield.

In 2012, van Berlo spent most of the season as a tagger, laying more tackles than anyone else at the club while also still ranking fifth at Adelaide for total disposals. He reprised this role in 2013, shutting down some of the competition's most dangerous players such as Brent Harvey and Stephen Hill. He also re-signed with Adelaide until the end of 2016 during the year.

Van Berlo ruptured his right Achilles tendon in a freak training accident prior to the 2014 season. This meant he missed the entire season, although he came close to making a miraculous return in the last few weeks of the season. In January 2015, van Berlo was replaced as captain by Taylor Walker.

After indifferent form following his return in 2015, van Berlo was dropped for the round 16 clash with . He later regained his place in the side and played his 200th match in round 23 against .

In September 2016, he announced his immediate retirement from the AFL.

Statistics

: |- | 2005 | | 7 || 11 || 1 || 2 || 44 || 28 || 72 || 20 || 11 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 4.0 || 2.6 || 6.6 || 1.8 || 1.0 |- | 2006 | | 7 || 19 || 5 || 5 || 143 || 110 || 253 || 58 || 44 || 0.3 || 0.3 || 7.5 || 5.8 || 13.3 || 3.1 || 2.3 |- | 2007 | | 7 || 23 || 7 || 12 || 219 || 215 || 434 || 98 || 75 || 0.3 || 0.5 || 9.5 || 9.4 || 18.9 || 4.3 || 3.3 |- | 2008 | | 7 || 23 || 8 || 12 || 234 || 251 || 485 || 110 || 83 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 10.2 || 10.9 || 21.1 || 4.8 || 3.6 |- | 2009 | | 7 || 21 || 5 || 5 || 164 || 292 || 456 || 104 || 61 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 7.8 || 13.9 || 21.7 || 5.0 || 2.9 |- | 2010 | | 7 || 19 || 5 || 4 || 182 || 205 || 387 || 110 || 62 || 0.3 || 0.2 || 9.6 || 10.8 || 20.4 || 5.8 || 3.3 |- | 2011 | | 7 || 22 || 12 || 12 || 282 || 236 || 518 || 126 || 76 || 0.6 || 0.6 || 12.8 || 10.7 || 23.6 || 5.7 || 3.5 |- | 2012 | | 7 || 25 || 13 || 11 || 293 || 162 || 455 || 105 || 126 || 0.5 || 0.4 || 11.7 || 6.5 || 18.2 || 4.2 || 5.0 |- | 2013 | | 7 || 19 || 8 || 9 || 209 || 114 || 323 || 69 || 62 || 0.4 || 0.5 || 11.0 || 6.0 || 17.0 || 3.6 || 3.3 |- | 2015 | | 7 || 20 || 4 || 6 || 187 || 119 || 306 || 79 || 74 || 0.2 || 0.3 || 9.4 || 6.0 || 15.3 || 4.0 || 3.7 |- | 2016 | | 7 || 3 || 0 || 1 || 23 || 13 || 36 || 9 || 8 || 0.0 || 0.3 || 7.7 || 4.3 || 12.0 || 3.0 || 2.7 |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3| Career ! 205 ! 68 ! 79 ! 1980 ! 1745 ! 3725 ! 888 ! 682 ! 0.3 ! 0.4 ! 9.7 ! 8.5 ! 18.2 ! 4.3 ! 3.3 |}

Coaching career

Following his retirement from senior football, Van Berlo returned to the Adelaide Football Club in 2017 to become a development coach. In 2018, he returned to his home state to join the coaching panel of the West Coast Eagles. As the midfield coach, he helped the Eagles towards winning the 2018 premiership.

After a successful three-year stint with the Eagles, Van Berlo returned to the Crows to become their midfield coach from 2021 onwards.

In December 2025, Van Berlo was announced to be an assistant coach for Western Australia in the AFL's 2026 Origin match against Victoria, joining senior AFL coaches Dean Cox and Justin Longmuir.

References

References

1. Washbourne, Michael. (18 September 2012). "Fremantle Dockers cut Jay van Berlo and rookie pair". PerthNow.
2. (10 July 2013). "Skipper VB's Kiwi origins". Adelaide Football Club.
3. Paton, Al. (8 December 2010). "Nathan van Berlo to captain Adelaide Crows". Herald Sun.
4. "Nathan van Berlo - AFC.com.au". Adelaide Football Club.
5. (18 March 2013). "Van Berlo re-signs, slams Tippett over contract saga". The Age.
6. Morgan, Kym. (15 January 2014). "Crows captain Nathan van Berlo's ruptured Achilles tendon likely a freak accident, club says". The Advertiser.
7. (14 January 2015). "Crows name Tex Walker as captain". Australian Football League.
8. Rucci, Michaelangelo. (16 July 2015). "Adelaide Crows drop Nathan Van Berlo for Showdown with Port Adelaide". The Advertiser.
9. (5 September 2016). "van Berlo bows out". [[Bigpond]].
10. "Nathan van Berlo".
11. Cleary, Mitch. (25 September 2020). "Captain calling: Former skipper to return to Crows".
12. (26 September 2020). "Van Berlo to depart West Coast".
13. (18 December 2025). "Crows duo selected for State of Origin".