Unley Oval to host AFLW football for the first time as the era of the conference system begins

THE Adelaide Crows have been slotted into Conference A and will play football at Unley Oval for the first time, as their quest for a second AFLW premiership begins.

• AFLW fixture released: Blues dumped from season opener
• Phillips inspires Foley’s switch
• New Crow Katelyn to wear mate Maggie’s No. 1 with pride

THE Adelaide Crows will kick off their 2019 AFLW season as part of a blockbuster Friday-night double header, playing last year’s premiers the Western Bulldogs at Norwood Oval.

The Crows’ opening game will follow the season-opener between expansion club Geelong and Collingwood, which will be played at the Cats’ AFL home-ground, GMHBA Stadium.

Carlton has been dumped from that opening game, after a disappointing showing in the Collingwood clash earlier this year.

The AFL yesterday unveiled the seven-minor round, two-conference fixture, with the Crows hierarchy saying they are pleased with the draw.

Adelaide will play four home games, three in South Australia and one at TIO Stadium in Darwin as part of the club’s Northern Territory connection and a further three games at grounds across Melbourne.

Adelaide’s chief operating officer Nigel Smart welcomed the fixture as well-balanced.

“(The Bulldogs) will be one of the teams to beat, given they are the reigning premiers, but it’s fair to say that with every new AFLW season, there are teams that surprise us in terms of their form,” he said.

“And with the new teams, Geelong and North Melbourne, there’s no doubt they’re going to be competitive and it will be exciting to see how they’ll develop in their first season.”

Smart said he was looking forward to seeing AFLW played at Unley Oval for the first time, with the Crows playing GWS there on Sunday, March 10.

“Taking AFLW out to different suburban grounds is going to be exciting,” he said.

Smart said the club had thrown support behind the much-debated, two-conference system, which will be introduced next year.

The AFL announced in September that with the two new expansion clubs, the 10 teams would be split into two conferences.

The Crows have been slotted into Conference A, along with Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Fremantle and North Melbourne.

Conference B will have Brisbane, Greater Western Sydney, Collingwood, Carlton and Geelong.

Crows midfielder Courtney Cramey during a 2018 AFLW match. (AAP Image/David Mariuz)

“The conference system will be an interesting new innovation for the AFLW,” Smart said.

“With the growing of the game, there needs to be innovation in the space and with new teams coming in, and a tight time-frame in which to try and position the AFLW, we’ve got to have some flexibility and I think bringing a conference kind of structure into the AFLW … after rigorous debate, from our point of view as a club, I’m happy to see it in.”

The Crows will play each of the teams in its conference as well as three crossover games against GWS, Geelong and Carlton.

When it comes to finals, the two top teams in each conference will qualify for a preliminary final, which will see first in Conference A playing second in Conference B and vice-versa held on Saturday, March 23 with the grand final played the week after.

The grand final match will overlap with Round 2 of the AFL season.

AFL’s head of women’s football Nicole Livingstone said the conference configuration played an important role in the fixture process.

Nicole Livingstone, new head of the AFLW. Picture: Nicole Cleary

“For fairness cross-conference matches ensure each team plays a minimum of one match against the two top ranked teams in the opposing conference and a minimum of one match against the bottom two ranked teams,” she said.

Smart said the Crows were looking forward to a successful season, that would be built upon their solid list of stable talent.

“Chelsea Randall, Erin Phillips, Ebony Marinoff, they headline our list, but we’ve got some great young talent coming through,” he said.

“Our Academy side and our development of women’s football in South Australia is being looked upon by the AFL very favourably in the way that we’re growing the game at a grassroots level and in the next couple of years there is going to be some fantastic talent that pushes its way into the AFLW.”

And Smart said expansion would continue to be the name of the game, with up to four teams potentially entering the competition in 2020: West Coast, Gold Coast, Richmond and St Kilda.

The clubs that remain without an AFLW licence are Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and Sydney, but there is the possibility that that could change by 2021.

“Certainly, there is growth within women’s football, it just needs to be sustainable at the semi-professional level,” Smart said.

CROWS AFLW 2019 FIXTURE

Round 1:

Saturday, February 2, 8.10pm

Adelaide Crows v Western Bulldogs

Norwood Oval

Round 2:

Sunday, February 10, 3.35pm

Carlton v Adelaide Crows

Ikon Park

Round 3:

Sunday, February 17, 2.05pm

Adelaide Crows v Geelong Cats

Norwood Oval

Round 4:

Saturday, February 23, 8.05pm

Adelaide Crows v Fremantle

TIO Stadium

Round 5:

Sunday, March 3, 3.35pm

Kangaroos v Adelaide Crows

Avalon Airport Oval

Round 6:

Sunday, March 10, 1.35pm

Adelaide Crows v GWS Giants

Unley Oval

Round 7:

Saturday, March 16, 4.15pm

Melbourne v Adelaide Crows

Casey Fields