Crow Jenna McCormick says the side is accustomed to playing under must-win pressure all season, an asset when going into finals

Crows star Jenna McCormick believes the pressure of finals footy in Sunday’s preliminary final against Geelong will not worry Adelaide because it has played under pressure all season.

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THE Crows knew it the moment they lost their opening round AFLW game on February 2: lose any more games and they would cross a line through finals.

Crows midfielder Jenna McCormick said given the competitive nature of Conference A, every game that Adelaide has played since its one-point loss to reigning premiers Western Bulldogs was a must-win.

And each one had a finals-like feel.

So, she said, the team goes into Sunday’s preliminary final against Geelong at Adelaide Oval, with a hardened mentality.

“Hopefully being in that finals groove a little bit earlier, might just give us that advantage,” McCormick said.

“But for me and all the other girls who’ve had finals experience, it’s really just another game. “It’s really just about delivering what we need to deliver and executing the game plan and keeping it very simple.”

After Adelaide’s first round loss, the side was been under intense pressure to win its remaining games and they finished the minor rounds with a 6-1 win-loss record, while the Conference A teams with two or more losses (North Melbourne, Melbourne and Bulldogs) did not advance to finals.

By comparison, Conference B’s Geelong enters the prelim final having lost more games than it won (3-4) this season.

Crow Jenna McCormick evades Catherine Phillips of the Demons during their AFLW round seven match at Casey Fields. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Media

But the Crows will not take them lightly, despite beating them by 29 points when they played them in round three.

“The previous game that we played them doesn’t mean anything now because we’re playing finals and it’s do or die and that goes for any sport,” McCormick said.

“They’re very good at getting it out the back, that handball-handball-handball kick, so they do like to kick more and maintain possession.

“At the end of the day if we can keep bringing the way we want to play and the pressure we want to put on the opposition, that’s ultimately going to be what wins the game: our contested possession in the midfield, our tackling, our pressure, the way we deliver the ball.”

McCormick, who has also been playing soccer for the Brisbane Roar this summer, goes into Sunday’s game on a high.

Her performance against Melbourne in the Crows 10-goal win in the last weekend was, by her own admission, probably her best personal game this season.

She notched up 10 disposals, five contested possessions, laid two tackles and kicked herself a goal.

Jenna McCormick during the Crows’ 10-goal win over Melbourne last weekend, probably both McCormick’s and the team’s best performance so far this season. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Media

“It felt like it was probably the best one for me for the season and the confidence I can take out of that … I feel like I’m getting back into the groove of things,” McCormick said.

The skilful and supremely fit Crows are chasing their second AFLW premiership in three seasons and there remain 17 players on their current 30-player squad from that inaugural 2017 premiership season, including McCormick.

The 24-year-old said she couldn’t pinpoint one specific thing that happened in 2017 that was happening again that was bringing the team success.

Rather, there was a confidence and trust in one another that they called upon.

“Not that we didn’t (have that) any other year, but I just feel like the way that we’re playing is stronger and we’ve all developed individually, which contributes to team development as well.”

Both entry and public transport to Sunday’s preliminary final are free.

Originally published as Crow Jenna McCormick says the side is accustomed to playing under must-win pressure all season, an asset when going into finals