AFLW news: All the latest updates following Round 7 of the 2021 season
A comprehensive loss to Melbourne has put Adelaide on the back foot in a tight finals race. Check out how the Crows can claim a finals berth.
AFLW
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFLW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Adelaide has one thing on its to-do list after going down to Melbourne by 28 points on Saturday night: beat the Western Bulldogs on Saturday and put its finals destiny into its own hands.
Win against the Bulldogs and the Crows will officially qualify for their third finals series in five seasons.
Lose and they’ll be nervously awaiting to take on the higher-placed Collingwood on March 28.
Saturday’s comprehensive loss at the hands of the Demons put the Crows’ win/loss ledger at a 5-2 count, and sees them sitting fourth on the congested ladder with a superior percentage, putting them above North Melbourne and Melbourne who have the same win/loss ratio.
Watch every match of the 2021 NAB AFLW Competition LIVE on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >>
Technically, the Crows could still make finals if they lose their final two games, but they’ll be relying on other results to go their way.
Head coach Matthew Clarke would prefer his side to make finals in their own right and that quest will start on Sunday when the Crows take on the Western Bulldogs at Norwood Oval.
The Bulldogs will arrive in Adelaide on a two-game losing streak, having lost to Collingwood and North Melbourne in the past fortnight.
As it stands, with two AFLW home and away rounds remaining there are nine teams are in the hunt for finals (in ladder order): Collingwood, Fremantle, Brisbane, Adelaide, Kangaroos, Melbourne, Bulldogs, Carlton and GWS, although it will take miracles and percentage-boosting wins for either the Blues or Giants to push their way into the pointy end of the season.
The top six teams will qualify for the three-week finals series, with the top two automatically qualifying for the preliminary final and earning a week’s bye while the other four teams compete in the semi-finals with 3v6 and 4v5.
If travel between state borders remains free-flowing, the higher-placed teams earn the right to host the finals.
For the Crows to make the top two and automatically qualify for the preliminary final, they must win both of their final games and rely on other results.
Clarke was philosophical after his side’s 6.7 (43) to 2.3 (15) loss on the road at Casey Fields saying his chargers were beaten by the Demons who were “too clean and too hard around the ball”.
“I thought our first half was pretty solid, we just didn’t take our chances. when we had them,” he said post-game.
“We’ll reassess and get ready to go again.”
Crows coach Matthew Clarke says his side will be looking to improve its work around centre bounce after going down to Melbourne 6.7 (43) to 2.3 (15) on Saturday night.
Adelaide lost total hit-outs 21-8 in the 28-point loss, with Demons’ dual ruck combination of Lauren Pearce (12 hit-outs) and Tegan Cunningham (7) proving too good for Caitlin Gould (7).
Gould was recalled to the team for the Demons clash at the expense of Rhiannon Metcalfe.
“I don’t think we won a centre bounce after quarter one, so that always makes it tough, you lose field position early … that was significant in the game,” Clarke said.
“Due credit to Melbourne, they played a great game of footy, we feel as though we perhaps weren’t at our best, but ultimately that’s often because your opponent’s played really well.”
The Crows went into the game on the back of their record 70-point win over the Gold Coast, but were forced into a late change, with forward Danielle Ponter (who kicked four goals against the Suns) out with groin soreness.
Clarke said Ponter had been “touch and go” all week as to whether she’d be right to play, but the decision was made not to risk her and he expected her to return for Sunday’s upcoming clash with the Western Bulldogs at Norwood Oval.
The Crows would have been disappointed scoring only two majors for the game, regardless of the windy and wet conditions at Casey Fields, particularly given they remain the highest aggregate scorers in the 2021 season after seven rounds, with 337 points for (ahead of North Melbourne with 329).
Clarke tried his best to boost scoring options late by starting both captain Chelsea Randall and star Erin Phillips into the forward line in the last quarter, but to no avail.
“About half way through the third the game was slipping away, so we made a few modifications, and in the last quarter we started Erin and Chelsea forward to give us a chance if we were able to win enough ball, but once again the contest went Melbourne’s way and they held sway,” he said.
It wasn’t just on the scoreboard where the Crows were punished. They also lost contested possession (139-116), clearances (21-16), inside-50s (40-21) and tackles (88-76).
Midfielder Ebony Marinoff was the leading possession-getter for Adelaide with 24 and she also laid the most tackles, with nine, while All-Australian defender Sarah Allan was impressive with a career-best 22 touches.
TOP DOC GIVES VERDICT ON INJURED GIANT’S FUTURE
Liz Walsh
Greater Western Sydney’s star Irish recruit Brid Stack, whose neck was fractured during an AFLW practice game in January, has revealed doctors will not allow her to return to football this season.
Miraculously, Stack, 34, had been holding out hope of playing for the Giants during the 2021 season, with her fractured C7 vertebrae healing well.
However, Stack revealed in the Irish Examiner, that her neurosurgeon has officially ruled out a return to play despite making immense progress in recovery.
“(My doctor) said … he couldn’t sign off on releasing me back into a contact sport so soon after such a serious injury,” she said.
She also revealed the extent of behind the scenes work in her attempt to play for the Giants in 2021, which included acupuncture, neck exercises five time a day, 2km runs, weights sessions, 11km stationary bike time-trials and a diet high in calcium, vitamin k2, vitamin D, vitamin C, joint support, turmeric and fish oils.
“I knew in my heart of hearts that I couldn’t have done any more,” she said.
“I had tried absolutely everything to get back … there (is) a deep inner satisfaction in how I had so relentlessly pursued my dream.
“If I had accepted what so many people told me weeks ago and listened to what medical evidence and opinion had loudly declared to me, I might have spared myself a tonne of heartache and effort.
“But the lingering questions would have tortured me: ‘Could I have made it back if I had pushed myself harder? Did I take the safe, but soft, option? Was I really true to myself?’
“At least now, I know that I was.”
Stack was injured in a collision with Adelaide midfielder Ebony Marinoff in the final minute of a practice match at Norwood Oval on January 17.
Marinoff was originally banned for three games by the AFL Tribunal for her role in the incident, but had it overturned on appeal.
With two games left in the AFLW home and away season, Stack, an 11-time All-Ireland Gaelic footballer, has begun a mentoring role with the Giants’ junior players and is aiming to join in any non-contact training over the next few weeks.
“I don’t know what will happen next year so I just want to finish up here on the pitch in some capacity,” she said.
More Coverage
Originally published as AFLW news: All the latest updates following Round 7 of the 2021 season
Seventh heaven: Shelley, McDonald among latest Cats signings
Geelong has further cemented its list for the 2025 AFLW season, signing up to seven players on one-year deals. See who is sticking around.
‘Lit something in me’: The spark that inspired Shaw’s coaching return
Incoming Gold Coast Suns AFLW coach Rhyce Shaw has revealed what inspired his senior coaching comeback four years after parting ways with North Melbourne.