Adelaide Crows co-captain Erin Phillips said it was unusual to run out in front of no fans in loss to the Giants
The Adelaide Crows’ AFLW premiership defence is all but over after they lost to the GWS Giants at Richmond Oval on Sunday afternoon.
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It was eerily quiet at Richmond Oval on Sunday afternoon when Adelaide lost to Greater Western Sydney by five points.
And as rumours swirl around the AFL potentially making changes to the AFLW season to prevent the further spread of COVID-19, the league’s players, coaches and officials know measures such as fan lockouts are being done in their best interests.
Except for a handful of family members who had travelled from interstate to watch the Giants and were granted special permission to be there along with the non-playing Crows squad members, the game was played without supporters.
Crows co-captain Erin Phillips said it was certainly unusual to run out in front of no fans.
“But when the ball went up, you just focus on what’s inside the white line,” she said.
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“We missed the energy of our fans and it’s a great part of playing in the AFLW is the supporters we have who come out and their voice almost acts like another couple of players on the field for you.
“It’s an unusual time for everyone, not just for us players, it’s worldwide, so we’ve just got to roll with what we have.
“I’m not sure what next week looks like, it seems to be changing all the time, but you’ve just got to come in with great focus … it was a little bit of an eerie feeling, but once the ball went up, it was game on.”
Alyce Parker, Giants midfielder and yesterday’s best on ground after racking up 30 touches, agreed.
“We’d love to have the atmosphere, we’re missing that, but the reality is that that’s what it is at the moment,” she said.
“The clubs and the way the AFL have gone about this and put the players and the clubs and really dealt with this in a really professional way, it makes us feel a lot safer and obviously willing to play and hopefully this will back off in the next few weeks.”
Giants coach Alan McConnell said sitting in the coaches’ box meant the lack of crowd was less obvious.
“When you’re in the coaches’ box you’re oblivious to it … the emotion in the coaches’ box was exactly the same as it was any other game,” he said.
He wouldn’t be drawn on whether the AFL had done the right thing in locking out fans.
“That’s for others to decide,” he said.
“We’re happy that the competition’s continuing because we’re footballers and coaches and that’s what we want and love to do, but the truth is the bigger picture stuff is for other people far more important than me.”