Crows go down to GWS in a trial game at Richmond Oval, but coach Matthew Clarke happy with his side’s first run around
The Crows AFLW side went down to the GWS Giants in a trial game, but Matthew Clarke was happy despite the result.
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The AFLW’S reigning premiers have lost their opening trial game of the 2020 season, but there’s no need to panic; Crows coach Matthew Clarke wasn’t even keeping score.
But for the record, Adelaide went down to Greater Western Sydney by 17 points: 3.3 (21) to GWS’s 5.8 (38) at Richmond Oval in front of a good crowd hovering close to 1000.
Crows fullback Sarah Allan continued her excellent 2019 form to be best on ground for the home side, in a game that saw the remarkable – and successful – return of Giants Irish sensation Cora Staunton after the 38-year-old broke both the tibia and fibula bones in her right leg in May while playing off-season footy in Sydney.
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It was low-scoring, but both teams came away unscathed, despite Adelaide forward Eloise Jones needed stitches underneath her left eye.
Overall, Clarke was pleased despite the loss.
“Our first half, I thought we played with good energy, and we saw some reasonable shape,” he said.
“The second half we probably got a little bit scratchy. But to be fair, we threw the magnets in the air at half time and so there were some players out of traditional positions.”
Here are the Crows key take-outs:
1. Debutants abound:
The Crows fielded all eight of their new players, including Jaimi Tabb and Nicole Campbell who were among the side’s best, both playing with flair and strength.
But Clarke said he was happy that all of the eight debuted, particularly his younger players including Madison Newman and Chelsea Biddell, who gained important match experience.
Clarke was also pleased with the showing of former GWS veteran mid-forward Courtney Gum, who came out of retirement when the Crows lost Hannah Button to an ACL injury.
“(Gum) showed that she’s going to be a seminal contributor,” Clarke said.
2. Who will ruck?
The big question of season 2020 is: Who will ruck?
No. 1 choice, Rhiannon Metcalfe, continues to rehab her ACL, and is preparing for a comeback but the date is unclear. No. 2 choice is Jess Foley, who took over the ruck reins in Metcalfe’s absence in 2019 and starred in the spot, finishing second in the club best and fairest.
But Foley sat on the sidelines for the trial game, alongside Ebony Marinoff, Renee Forth and Marijana Rajcic, with the four premiership players all managing minor niggles.
This gave new draftees Montana McKinnon (the Crows first draft pick last year) and Caitlin Gould the chance. It was a tough, but important introduction to AFLW footy for the duo.
“What I liked is they competed really strongly, both got at it through the air and then followed up through the air,” Clarke said.
“There’s going to be a bit of competition that position.”
3. Attack needs a tweak:
In a forward line missing the likes of hard-marking Erin Phillips and Chloe Scheer, the Crows were kept to only one scoring shot for the entire second half: a goal to debutant Najwa Allen.
Clarke said the side would work on its “messy” centre bounces as remedy to avoid spending as much time as they did in the GWS defence.
“(When attacking) we didn’t connect as well and that probably comes from having to transition the length of the ground on most occasions; our ‘CB’ numbers, I think we won one or two and they won all the rest.”
4. Ruth Wallace leaves:
Meanwhile, the Crows will be without 2018 player Ruth Wallace, who has pulled out of football to concentrate on her wellbeing.
Wallace was on the club’s inactive list last season and reinstated for 2020, but Clarke said she wouldn’t play.
“We were really hopeful she’d be able to be part of the program, she’s a great person, unfortunately it’s just not going to work out for this season and so she’ll step away and look after her health and we’ll support her in every way we can.”