Adelaide cements its place as AFLW premiership favourites after win over GWS
The Crows have cemented themselves as AFLW premiership favourites, with a 32-point win over Greater Western Sydney in a tough, arm-wrestle of a match. Liz Walsh breaks down exactly where the Crows are at.
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The Crows have cemented themselves as AFLW premiership favourites, with a 32-point win over Greater Western Sydney in a tough, arm-wrestle of a match.
In a tight contested game, the Crows came out victors in front of an impressive 7725 crowd at Unley Oval, largely thanks to the calm head of Erin Phillips, the pressure of Chelsea Randall and the boot of the AFLW’s leading goal-kicker, Stevie-Lee Thompson, who kicked three majors.
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In a game that was even for three quarters in terms of disposals, kicking efficiency, marks and
tackles, it was Adelaide’s superior count of inside-50s that gave them the win over the Giants.
They smashed the Giants in that area: 46 to 15 and the score line ended 9.5. 59 to 4.3.27.
In a game that had serious implications for the Crows’ hopes of making the finals, they seemed shaky early.
A second-effort snap close at goal by Anne Hatchard in the opening three minutes got the Crows on the scoreboard, but the next 10 minutes were all Giants, with Christina Bernardi proving difficult to manage.
Adelaide’s defence seemed rattled and as if in tatters — and a turnover after a botched Crows 50m penalty out of defence gave the Giants their opening goal, with their second coming only a minute later.
The Crows managed a steadier after a free kick to Thompson. And they then followed that with a snap from last week’s NAB rising star nominee Chloe Scheer just inside the 50m line, which bounced through for a major thanks to some excellent shepherd work by Phillips in the goal square.
That was telling: this is what teamwork looks like.
In fact, that’s what Adelaide’s game was made up of all day: sure, there was Phillips (24 disposals) and Randall (16 disposals) racking up their possessions, but the load was distributed evenly.
Ebony Marinoff equalled the highest possession count of the day with 24, Deni Varnhagen was up there with 16 of her own. Justine Mules was a speedy jet across the park, but the efforts in the backhalf need to be commended. A long run from Marijana Rajcic to chase down Cora Staunton — despite being deemed a high tackle and giving away a goal — showed desperation and intent.
South Australian, Courtney Gum — who was last year’s AFLW Players Association MVP — was quiet, with 13 disposals for the game.
The Crows now sit top of Conference A on percentage and their likelihood to play finals either hangs on them beating Melbourne next week, or on other results.
GWS, meanwhile, will not make finals, with five losses and only one win in Conference B.
THIRD QUARTER TOUGHNESS
What stood out at the major break was just how even a contest this was — something that Crows head coach Matthew Clarke predicted early, given the smaller Unley Oval would provide more contested footy, an environment loved by the Giants. Disposals, marks, clearances were all being shared across the teams.
And this is exactly how the third quarter played out. Both teams squandered entries into their
forward 50s with fierce defensive pressure. Ellie Brush was a clear standout down back for the Giants. The Crows were the only team to score this quarter: one point.
DEBUTANTS
In good news for the growing SANFLW competition, two South Adelaide players made their debuts for opposing sides: Nikki Gore, 18, for the Crows and Lisa Whiteley, 26, for the Giants. It was a game that then had last year’s Panthers’ Best and Fairest (Gore — also the SANFLW’s Breakthrough Player) playing against South’s 2018 “Most Ferocious” player (Whiteley). Gore seemed steady in her first run, while Whiteley had a tough day in the backlines in a defence that had nine goals kicked against it.
IN THE RUCK
The Crows announced this week that their second ruck, Jasmyn Hewett who injured her ankle during the pre-season, underwent surgery on Friday and would not be returning for the season. Along with first ruck Rhiannon Metcalfe, who is recovering from a knee reconstruction, that’s left the majority of the ruck on the shoulders of first-year player Jess Foley. Foley finished the game with 18 hit outs and 15 disposals. Meanwhile the Giants tested what two rucks might look like using both Erin McKinnon and Ingrid Nielsen who combined for 27 hitouts.
UNLEY SHINES
This was the first time AFLW came to Unley Oval and boy did it put on a display. The ground looked magnificent and was packed from white-picket-fence to stands, with football lovers. With AFLW boss Nicole Livingstone looking on, she must have been impressed with the spectacle put on. Expect more football at this venue.
SCOREBOARD:
ADELAIDE: 3.0 5.3 5.4 9.5 (59)
GWS GIANTS: 2.1 4.2 4.2 4.3 (27)
BEST — Adelaide: E. Marinoff, C. Randall, E. Phillips, M. Rajcic, J. Foley
GWS: E. Brush, A. Eva, A. Parker, C. Staunton
GOALS — Adelaide: S. Thompson 3, D. Ponter 2, A. Hatchard, E. Phillips, Jones
GWS: C. Bernardi, J. Hicks, C. Staunton, Y. Bonner
UMPIRES: Adair, McPhee, Jones
CROWD: 7725
Originally published as Adelaide cements its place as AFLW premiership favourites after win over GWS
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