Crows AFLW: Why Adelaide players love grand final coach Matthew Clarke

With about 15,000 footy fans expected to flock to Adelaide Oval for Saturday’s AFLW grand final, we explain why coach Matthew “Doc” Clarke is adored by his Crows team.

Matthew Clarke talks to his players during the Adelaide Crows AFLW training session at Adelaide Oval on April 6, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Football can be an all-consuming game. Just ask Crows AFLW head coach Matthew “Doc” Clarke when he fell asleep on the floor after coaching his side to a 39-point win over St Kilda on the road last month. Or when he’s on the couch late on a Sunday night reviewing game footage.

And he’s busy outside of running a successful women’s team that has just made its third grand final under four years of his tenure.

The 48-year-old has three young kids, a wife who’s equally busy in breakfast radio, is the ruck coach for the Crows men’s team and volunteers on the Crows Foundation Board.

Perhaps it’s no wonder Clarke might fall asleep on the floor during an away trip.

Adelaide captain Chelsea Randall explains: “He puts a lot of effort, love and passion into whatever he does, so he obviously had a little nap just to try and catch up on some ‘zee’s’ because we’ve probably drained the poor fella.

“But he still keeps going and still keeps giving.”

Crows coach Matthew Clarke falls asleep on a floor during an away trip to Victoria. Picture supplied: Ali Clarke

Clarke talks to his players during the AFLW training session at Adelaide Oval earlier this week. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

In his four years as coach, the Crows have missed only one finals series – in 2020 – but were triumphant in 2019 and grand finalists in 2021.

Now, he’s back for another shot at glory when his side takes on Melbourne in the 2022 AFLW grand final on Saturday.

Speak to his players and it’s his love, care and ability to get his message across with clarity that has contributed to his 28-9 win-loss record since taking the reins four seasons ago.

Randall says from the moment Clarke joined the women’s program in late 2018, he recognised immediately that the AFLW players were part-time athletes.

“Our AFLW players sacrifice so much and he really empathised with that and said: ‘Family comes first, then work, then football … some of our players work in organisations where their employers aren’t quite as understanding and they’ve already used up all their leave (to play and train) and Doc’s like: ‘You might be late to training, but that’s OK’ … we’ve got other players who have to wake up at 4am for a job, or others who have a family member who might be unwell, all these types of things he’s managing to make sure he’s doing the right thing to get the best out of every individual.”

A coach’s job is never done: Clarke working into the night at home in AFLW grand final week. Picture supplied: Ali Clarke

Randall describes him as an “inspirational coach”.

“He’s very detailed with his planning for our sessions. He’s so calm. But I almost can’t quite put into words just how amazing he is.

“Our relationship as captain and coach, has really grown as well over the years and the trust we have with one another.

“He’s such a creative mind and I love it because we’re both creative minds and he’ll sometime just pick up the phone and he’ll be like: ‘Chels, I’ve got this thought’ and I’ll be like: ‘Yep, I love it already’ and he hasn’t even said it.

“And then vice versa when I call him.

“It’s just this beautiful trust, not only just between him and I but among the entire playing group, all the coaches, all the staff, he’s so good at including everyone.

“And he gives full clarity. I don’t think people always fully understand the importance of clarity, being able to clearly and concisely being able to communicate each component of our game, while also managing the dynamics of individual personalities.

“You have 30 players and another 15 staff members and he’s constantly managing the dynamic personalities as well as the actual strategy and fundamentals and training and he goes above and beyond and it doesn’t go unnoticed by the players.”

Clarke is nicknamed “Doc” thanks to his veterinarian degree, but Randall says when she first met him, she assumed his degree outside of footy would have been teaching.

“He has so many of those qualities of what a great teacher is, in understanding that each individual learns differently and that every player is completely different.

“For some of our players, you’ve just had a full day at work, you’re running on zero, and now you’re expected to train for three hours and switch on and remain focused … he finds ways of bringing laughter and emotion attached to our learning, so that we actually remember it.”

So in true Doc style, this season has seen “Amazing Race” style treasure hunts through the Adelaide CBD, games of musical chairs at training, pre-season surfing lessons, even a Fringe-style night of entertainment held in his backyard.

Clarke and his players get into the spirit of a pre-season surfing lesson at Middleton Beach. Picture Dean Martin

When Covid struck members of his team, he and wife Ali, dressed up in costume – Ali a giant bumble bee and he a giant panda – and they danced in the driveways of players who were in isolation to lift their spirits.

(However, he still hasn’t confirmed that he was the one dancing in the panda suit: “Don’t know what you’re talking about” is the response you’ll get if you ask him whether it was him dressed as a panda. And Randall will back her coach on that call: “Don’t know what you’re talking about!” is what she’ll reply if you ask her about the mysterious person inside the panda suit.)

Reigning club champion, Ebony Marinoff, says it’s Clarke’s quirky personality that the players love.

“I’ve had Doc as a coach since 2019 and this year, hands down, is the best he’s coached,” Marinoff says.

“The way he’s been able to get the best out of his players, not that he’s never done that, he’s been a bloody good coach for years, but it’s the individual connection that he has built and you can’t just build that in a year.

“And he’s quirky.

Matthew Clarke directs a training session on Adelaide Oval in late March. Picture Mark Brake

“We love him for who he is and we wouldn’t have Doc any other way.”

For defender Marijana Rajcic, it’s been Clarke’s commitment to process that has inspired her this year.

“How we’ve been attacking this season is about the process: What is the process? Well, we’ve got to win the football. Okay, how do we win the football? I’ve got to win my contest. I’ve got to actually take that clean, ground ball or make that kick.

“So, really breaking it down and simplifying it and to really focus on the process rather than thinking of that outcome.”

The Crows last won a premiership in 2019, Clarke’s inaugural season. That year Adelaide was clearly the best team in the team league; by a very, very long way. They were skilled, fit, fast. Their ball use far superior.

Adelaide remains a skilled, fit, fast side; but the rest of the competition has caught up.

And that’s been the challenge the Crows – how to stay ahead. Fine-tuning skills and finetuning game plan has been critical to Adelaide winning the past two minor premierships, in 2022 and 2021.

Rajcic says that’s come down to Clarke: “Having Doc Clarke’s leadership has got us all on the same page because we’ve built that trust within our squad.”

And she describes him as a “mastermind”.

Clarke is known for his quirky ways, but his players wouldn’t have him any other way. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever come across in terms of ideas, he’s got more ideas than Chelsea Randall and she has a lot.

“But in terms of his genuine care, the way he teaches us, the way he supports us, the way he makes footy fun.

“At training, yeah, it’s hard sometimes, but we love being here and we wouldn’t be here if he didn’t create that environment for us.

“And I think you can see how much happiness he gets from coaching us.

“I feel that honestly he’s coaching us because he thinks it’s the best job in the entire world.”

What three-time All-Australian defender Sarah Allan has enjoyed about being coached by Clarke is that he’s honed in on the process and brought in team values of “actions speak louder than words” and a “one-in, all-in” philosophy.

“The big thing he’s about, is the process,” Allan says.

“It’s not just about thinking about winning, you’ve actually got to do the things to get to the winning part.

“That where your actions speak louder than words; this week, it’s easy for us to say we’re going to do all these things, but you’ve actually got to go out there and do it and it’s all those one percenters.”

For midfielder Anne Hatchard, it’s that family side of Clarke that she loves most.

“He is just an awesome coach,” she said.

“He’s so friendly, so loving, so down-to-earth and he’s like a father, extremely positive and laid back and so knowledgeable with football and he’s been awesome for our team.”

Originally published as Crows AFLW: Why Adelaide players love grand final coach Matthew Clarke