Adelaide Crows winger Sophie Li will face her old club Carlton in Sunday’s AFLW grand final

Sophie Li made the decision to come home to Adelaide and play for the Crows this season. Now she’ll play in an AFLW grand final against her former side — on her birthday.

• Merciless Crows march into grand final
• From spoon to GF in 371 days
• How Doc’s medicine helped Crows improve

Playing on Adelaide Oval in an AFLW grand final is a dream come true for Crows winger Sophie Li, and not just because she’ll playing footy on the state’s biggest stage.

Next Sunday when she runs out on to Adelaide Oval alongside her teammates to play Carlton for the 2019 AFLW premiership, she will also be celebrating her birthday and taking on her former teammates.

Li was recruited by the Crows from the Blues for this season.

Crows winger Sophie Li beats Richelle Cranston to the ball in the AFLW Preliminary Final at Adelaide Oval. Picture: AAP Image/David Mauriz

The Crows won the right to contest the grand final when they mercilessly beat Geelong by 11 goals at Adelaide Oval.

Li said playing on such an iconic ground was an honour.

“It was just incredible to be out there (for the preliminary final),” she said.

“It is a childhood dream to do that.

“And (next week) to run out again with this group of girls, and play against Carlton on my birthday it’s just this strange kind of whirlwind of coincidences and it’s going to be incredible.”

In Sunday’s match, Li collected six disposals and laid five tackles. She said the strength of the Crows’ game was their pressure and tenacity.

“That’s what’s been the strength of our game all season; just contest, after contest, after contest,” she said.

“I think our strength is that each of us bring that pressure no matter where we are on the ground.”

And for Li that field position has been on the wing — a new role for her handed by coach Matthew “Doc” Clarke.

More used to playing in the midfield for her former club Carlton, the 30-year-old said she was enjoying the positional change.

“I’m continually learning,” she said. “Especially off Deni (Varnhagen) and Justine (Mules) and learning running patterns.

Li said she expected the week leading up to Sunday’s grand final to be just like any other.

“This is something Doc’s always said: ‘It’s the same, exactly the same’.

Olivia Purcell of the Cats is tackled by Sophie Li of the Crows during the AFLW Preliminary Final at Adelaide Oval. Li laid five tackles for the game. Picture: AAP Image/David Mauriz

“We train from day one, exactly like we will on every Tuesday and Thursday with the same mindset, just to get the job done.

“Nothing changes; the level that we train at is the level that we’ve always trained at and the level that we play at is the level we’ve always played at.”

Li said she still often spoke with her former Blues teammates, including Snapchat-ing them photos of her dogs and that they thoroughly deserved to be in the grand final after defeating the favoured Fremantle by 36 points at Ikon Park on Saturday.

“They played really well on Saturday,” she said.

“They are quite formidable … but also a great bunch of girls.”

But she said coming back to her home in Adelaide and joining her new team had been a wonderful experience.

“It’s been so easy, I’ve just slipped straight in,” she said.

* AFLW grand final: Adelaide v Carlton, Sunday, March 31, Adelaide Oval, at 12.30pm.