Expect some shuffling as Adelaide covers the loss of Cramey but Crows coach wants to reward the players from last week’s win

Selection decisions can’t be easy for Adelaide AFLW head coach Matthew Clarke as the Crows sit second in Conference A with a 3-1 win-loss record and face the unbeaten Kangaroos at Avalon Airport Oval.

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AS Adelaide prepares to travel to Victoria for its “match of the round” against league-leaders North Melbourne on Sunday, final selection won’t be easy for coach Matthew Clarke.

While strong forward Chloe Scheer returns after serving out a one-match ban for rough conduct and will replace the injured Courtney Cramey, there are others on the fringe who are impressing “Doc” and could well get a game with the Crows soon.

Those players include forward Sarah Perkins who was dropped last week but went on to kick 3.4 for the Eagles in the SANFLW on Friday night and then there’s second-year player Rheanne Lugg who has not played a game this season.

Netball cross-coder Maisie Nankivell is also available after overcoming concussion and then there are the untried young draftees in Nikki Gore and Katelyn Rosenzweig who are impressing on the training track too.

Crows forward Chloe Scheer will returns to Adelaide’s side after serving out her one-match ban for rough conduct. Picture: Sam Wundke/AAP

“(Perkins) played a really strong game, kicked 3.4 often competing against two or three defenders,” Clarke said.

“(West Adelaide) recognised she was going to be an issue for them, so they defended her accordingly.

“We’re really happy with how she went, we spoke about her contest work and because they put three defenders on her, that allowed her to work on her contest stuff which was great.”

But he admits that slotting players like Perkins back into the team isn’t necessarily easy, considering the Crows are coming off an impressive 42-point win over the previously undefeated Fremantle and are now sitting second in Conference A.

“The team that played against Fremantle was a pretty strong performance and I’m keen to reward that,” Clarke said.

Clarke predicted Lugg would likely be named as the Crows’ travelling emergency for Sunday’s round five clash against the rampant Kangaroos.

Controlling North Melbourne’s 186cm Emma King looms as a tough battle for the Crows this weekend. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty

“They’re undefeated with a percentage over 200 so their forward line is pretty strong, it should be a great game,” he said.

“They’re pretty balanced, both sides are actually.

“Around the ball, they’ve got some great midfielders and clearly Emma King’s a really strong target for them down forward and Jessica Duffin in the back half’s been really influential in the first few games, so they are quite balanced and therefore (we will) have to be good in all areas.

“Usually, these games swing on the contest, who’s better at the contest both at stoppage and then ahead and behind the ball so that’s the starting point for most games.”

* North Melbourne v Adelaide, Sunday, March 3, Avalon Airport Oval, 3.35pm