Just like that, Adelaide has become one of the teams to beat in the inaugural NAB AFL Women’s competition.
Almost 8,000 fans packed into Whitten Oval in Melbourne’s western suburbs on Friday night, expecting to see flag favourites the Western Bulldogs carry on their form from round one with another dominant win.
The Bulldogs faithful came out in droves and were treated to actual fireworks as the team ran out onto the field. But once the siren sounded, they were shown a masterclass from the Crows instead.
Adelaide coach Bec Goddard said before the season she expected her team to play a fast, attacking brand of football – and that style was on show against the Bulldogs.
The Crows used their speed advantage to full effect, regularly breaking away from their opponents and playing on at every opportunity. This was best illustrated by their second goal, when Jessica Sedunary put the ball under her arm and sprinted past a defender before slotting it home from 30 metres.
Sedunary and fellow speedy forwards Rachael Killian and Kellie Gibson gave their defenders nightmares, while the smooth foot skills of Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall and Ebony Marinoff created many attacking opportunities.
The Crows even used their speed effectively in defence, not giving the Bulldogs any time and space with the ball before they were hit with crushing tackles. The run-down tackle laid by Deni Varnhagen on the Bulldogs’ Hayley Wildes was a perfect example of this, the act stopping a likely goal two minutes into the final quarter.
After the game, Goddard said the team had a simple plan.
"We want to come out and attack and see where that takes us," she said.
Speed was always on the agenda for Adelaide, with coaches putting an emphasis on running ability and ball skills when building the team.
The Crows used their marquee players selections on West Australian pair Chelsea Randall and Kellie Gibson, who both provide run and clean ball skills.
They also used their early picks at the NAB AFL Women’s Draft last year to select the likes of Marinoff, Heather Anderson, Jenna McCormick and Varnhagen, all strong runners who can win the ball.
"We’re quick and we’re ready to run" was the message from Goddard before the season.
"We hope that with our speed, we’re going to win the contested ball and kick a lot of goals," she said.
It has been a surprising rise to the top of the ladder for Adelaide, with many underestimating the team’s prospects.
The Crows weren’t often listed alongside teams from the other traditional football states in discussions about potential premiers in the inaugural AFLW season.
In fact, Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan told AFL.com.au in January that South Australia was close to not even having a team in the competition.
"One of the challenges early on was the AFL didn't intend to have a team based in South Australia [because] there were concerns about the level of talent," Fagan said.
"We felt South Australia should be represented on the national stage and given the support the sport gets in this state, it would almost have been unjust for that to occur."
This led the Crows to submit a joint bid with AFL NT to increase the depth of talent available to the team, although the decision was not without its difficulties.
While the arrangement allowed Adelaide to recruit the biggest names from the Top End, it also led to a disjointed pre-season with nine of the club’s 27 players based in Darwin and training separately from their teammates.
Although the two groups met each other only a couple of times before the season, Goddard said the separation wasn’t having a negative effect on the team’s preparation.
"There’s nothing different that they do there [in Darwin], it’s just that [the players are] not together," she said.
"When they do come together, it’s the same drills, the same set-ups and it works well."
And based on Friday night’s eye-opening performance, it’s hard to argue with Goddard’s assessment. Adelaide played like a team that had been training together all pre-season.
But more importantly, the Crows played like a true premiership contender.
