Five years ago on Saturday 4 February, 2017, Adelaide’s inaugural squad was lining up for the first time to compete in a new league: the AFLW.
Fast forward to February 4, 2022, the two-time premiership Crows have an undefeated start to the season under their belt and are gunning for their third title.
For AFLW Senior Coach Matthew Clarke, it’s hard to believe it’s been just five years since it all began.
“As a Club it seems kind of unbelievable that we haven’t always had an AFLW team,” Clarke said.
“It just feels like the norm now, it feels like our Club as a whole is a much better place for having an AFLW team.
“To think that it’s such a short period of time is pretty amazing.”
As South Australia’s first AFLW side, Clarke said the Crows were proud to be a part of women’s sporting history in the national landscape.
“It’s a great footy story across the country and one we’re really happy to be a part of in SA,” Clarke said.
“There’s been amazing growth (in the competition), particularly the skill development from season one to what we’re witnessing now.
“The standard of the play is through the roof and only continuing to head north.
“It’s exciting. If this is what we’ve got after only five years I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen after 10 or 15.”
Clarke said strong culture had been a foundation of the Crows’ success since that first game in 2017, and team-first mentality remained a pillar of his side now.
“We’re very fortunate with really strong leaders that set things in place early and I’ve been fortunate enough to come in off the back of that,” Clarke said.
“It’s a lot of people working really hard but also being respectful of each other and making sure the environment’s a really good place to be.”
The Crows will look to maintain their unblemished record in season 2022 when they take on Carlton at Ikon Park (VIC) on Sunday, January 6.
