Newly elevated Crows leader Ebony Marinoff on how her side will handle the pressure of footy in the summer sun

Crows star Ebony Marinoff opens up about her side’s toughest pre-season yet and why it means Adelaide won’t be scared of playing in the summer heat.

Liz Walsh

5 min read

December 3, 2021 - 10:24AM

Ebony Marinoff of the Crows warms up during the round one AFLW match between the West Coast Eagles and the Adelaide Crows at Mineral Resources Park on January 30, 2021 in Perth, Australia. Picture: PAUL KANE/GETTY IMAGES

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Five blockbuster home games at Norwood Oval is what awaits the Crows as they leap into the AFLW season, hungry to appease their 2021 grand final defeat and go one better in 2022.

On Thursday, the AFL unveiled the first nine rounds of the 10-round AFLW competition, with Adelaide kicking off its season against Fremantle in Perth on January 8.

Adelaide will play its first home game against North Melbourne at Norwood Oval on Sunday, January 16, but will be forced to wait until Round 8 to extract revenge for last season’s grand final loss at the hands of Brisbane.

The Crows will face the Lions in their grand final rematch at Norwood Oval on Sunday, February 27, in a weekend which will also see the league celebrate Indigenous Round.

Adelaide also face Melbourne, Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs at home.

Reigning club champion Ebony Marinoff said the players were excited to face some of the biggest teams in front of a home crowd.

Crow Hannah Munyard takes a screamer over the back of Ebony Marinoff and Caitlin Gould at Tennyson Beach. Picture: Simon Cross

Ebony Marinoff in action. Picture: AAP IMAGE/DAVID MARIUZ

“We’ve never had this many blockbuster games against those sides, at home, in front of an Adelaide crowd, it’s just going to be amazing,” she said.

“That crowd gets us going, so the fact we get to play our big rivals in front of them in great.”

The Crows are yet to find out who their Round 10 opponents will be, with the AFL withholding the final minor round match-ups, deciding instead to release those games in the coming days along with another announcement.

Despite the AFLW season falling in the middle of summer, the Crows have not had any night games scheduled, with the latest game scheduled for 5.50pm in Perth (however the fixturing details of Rounds 9 and 10 remain a secret).

But Marinoff said the heat didn’t scare the Crows, with the side putting in their toughest pre-season to date in an effort to play during the peak of summer.

In fact, Marinoff – the team’s newly appointed leadership group member – said the side was looking forward to “owning summer sport” from January.

Marinoff gets a kick away during the 2021 AFLW grand final at Adelaide Oval under intense pressure from Brisbane’s Catherine Svarc. Picture: Mark Brake / Getty

Marinoff with a surf board at Middleton Beach in November during a Crows’ pre-season team bonding experience. Picture: Dear Martin

“The demands of the game in summer, especially now the season’s been brought forward, we’re going to be playing the whole of January and February, it’s going to be so hot, but we love playing in the heat and you just have to get it done and the way you do that is to train as hard as you can,” she said.

Marinoff said the side would also embrace two trips west in the opening three weeks of the season.

“We’re very good on the road, we love each other’s company,” she said.

The sixth season of the AFLW will see the 14 teams play across an expanded 10 minor rounds, with the top six teams to face off in a three-week finals series.

For the second season, tickets will be $10 for adults, with kids under 18 free.

Adelaide will play all its five home games at Norwood Oval, with Crows chief executive Tim Silvers hoping it will be a winning formula given the side lost only one of its home games there last season.

“Having five home games in family-friendly timeslots is a great start and we hope to see footy supporters of all ages turning up and getting behind Matthew Clarke, Chelsea Randall and the team,” Silvers said.

Ebony Marinoff, left, at the 2021 W Awards ceremony where she was named All-Australian. Picture: SARAH REED/AFL PHOTOS

FOLLOW THE LEADER

She’s known for her trademark exuberant passion on the field, and her straight-talking opinions of it, but now, Ebony Marinoff will also be known as a Crows leader after being unexpectedly elevated to the team’s leadership group.

When the Crows squad voted for their 2022 AFLW leaders about a month ago, Marinoff came fifth and missed out on a leadership position after club hierarchy decided to stick with last year’s formula of three players supporting captain Chelsea Randall.

Undeterred, Marinoff continued to pour her heart into pre-season training, and in doing so, took her own standards to a new level, which earnt her the surprise call-up to the leadership group for the first time in her career.

Last month, the Crows announced their leadership group would comprise midfielder Stevie-Lee Thompson, defender Sarah Allan, forward Eloise Jones and captain Randall.

Now their 24-year-old reigning club champion joins them, with Randall announcing Marinoff’s elevation to the squad on Wednesday at training.

“They were blown away with the impact I’ve had over the last few weeks and Doc (coach Matthew Clarke) and Randy (Randall) and the leaders made the decision to elevate me this year,” she said.

“The response from the group and the wider footy community when it was announced, I had an overwhelming response … it’s nice to know that I deserve to be in there and I haven’t just been given the role.

“(Previously) I’ve been really content doing what I do and I’ve never needed a title, but this has made me realise if I can have a really positive influence on this group, that’s something I really want to be a part of and would love to be a part of and make sure this club has sustained success.”

Ebony Marinoff in her pre-game routine during the 2021 AFLW season, which saw the Crows finish runners-up after losing to Brisbane in the grand final. Picture: PAUL KANE/GETTY IMAGES

The AFLW’s inaugural rising star winner from 2017, Marinoff has matured into one of the league’s leading midfielders, last season averaging a career-best 23.5 touches a game.

Crows coach Matthew Clarke said Marinoff had been an outstanding player for Adelaide since its inaugural season, and in five seasons had never finished lower than third in the best and fairest counts.

“But what’s been impressive over the past two years is that she’s really embracing helping her teammates get better and really developing in the leadership space,” Clarke said.

“She’s one of the most dedicated and committed athletes I’ve seen so I know that if she puts her mind to this area, she’s going to become a great leader for us.”

Marinoff said as a leader, she wanted to continue to build on the successful culture that had been created at the Crows, that had seen them reach three grand finals in five seasons.

She said leadership would help her be a better footballer.

“(I want to be) the best I can be, as well as pushing my teammates because I’m not going to be successful without them, our team’s not going to be successful, we all need to do this as a team and that’s why I play footy.

“I’m not going to change anything I’m doing, it’s just going to make me a better person on and off the field because you need to make sure you’re upholding the values.”