Adelaide Crows captain Erin Phillips has predicted more running in second AFLW season

LEAGUE best and fairest Erin Phillips’ predictions for the second season of AFLW.

Chelsea Randall, Bec Goddard and Erin Phillips celebrate the 2017 AFLW premiership. Picture: Michael Willson/Getty Images

ADELAIDE co-captain Erin Phillips has predicted less congestion and more running for the second AFLW season as the premier faces its first test in a practice match against Fremantle in Darwin on Saturday night.

Phillips, the league best and fairest and former basketball star, expected players to be fitter as the Crows embark on a training camp in the Northern Territory ahead of their season-opener against Brisbane at Norwood Oval on February 3.

Some of it had to do with the last-touch rule, which means there will be free kicks rather than throw-ins for out-of-bounds balls, but also because the players have had another pre-season to build fitness.

“I think with the last-touch rule brought in it will be a lot faster,” Phillips said. “The congestion will be a little bit less, we’ll just have to wait to see how much.

“But for sure there’s going to be more running.

“We’re already fitter than we were last season and I’m sure every other team is, too.

“We’ve been working our butts off — Bec (coach Bec Goddard) has got us in fantastic shape and all we can do now is keep working.

“It’ll be a great hitout against Freo and all we can do is to give it another crack.

“We’ve got to understand that we were the premiers in 2017, not 2018. It’s another year. To win a flag is hard, to stay at the top of the mountain is even harder.

“We have girls who are mature and focused enough to understand that. We’re going to get every single team’s best game, we know that, because everybody wants to knock off the reigning premier.”

Phillips this week closed the door on her basketball career after realising she could not complete both a Commonwealth Games preparation while playing in the AFLW.

The decision had increased her appetite for football and her desire to again be a dominant player in the national women’s competition.

“The disappointment of Rio (when the Opals failed to win a medal), has definitely taught me not to take anything for granted and make sure that every single game that you play ... it might be your last.

“It still drives me and it will never go away. It was a massive lesson that I learnt but also a really valuable one.

“Until I walk off the footy field — and hopefully that’s not for another few years — I’ll always have that burning desire to keep getting better, keep improving and know that it might be my last game.”

XBlades ambassadors Abbey Holmes, Chelsea Randall and Sarah Perkins with the boots specifically designed for women. Picture: AAP Image

MEANWHILE, Crows players Sarah Perkins, Abbey Holmes and co-captain Chlesea Randall have signed sponsorship with company XBlades, who have launched the company’s first range of women’s boots specifically designed for women.

They are among 30 female rugby league and Australian football players who have joined the company as ambassadors.

Originally published as Adelaide Crows captain Erin Phillips has predicted more running in second AFLW season