Crows women’s coach Bec Goddard says fan favourite Sarah Perkins is breaking the mould of a traditional key forward.

Famously overlooked in the inaugural AFL Women’s Draft, Perkins has forced more turnovers with her defensive pressure than any other player in the AFLW.

The 23-year-old, who joined the Crows as a free agent, also leads the League in points scored directly from forced turnovers. She ranks equal-fifth in goalkicking (four) behind only Erin Phillips (five) at Adelaide.

Goddard said Perkins’ numbers were more reflective of an in-and-under midfielder.

“It just shows the work rate of Sarah Perkins. I’ve always said that she’s not a one-trick pony. She’s got many strings to her bow,” Goddard said on Friday.

“(Her pressure) helps the forward line – it helps ‘Gibbo’ (Kellie Gibbo), it helps ‘Killa’ (Rachael Killian) and it helps ‘Jmac’ (Jenna McCormick). It helps everyone kick goals.”

Perkins is an integral part of the highest-scoring forward line in the AFL Women’s Competition.

Adelaide’s opponents this week, the Brisbane Lions, are ranked second for scores and have conceded the fewest points of any side defensively. Goddard said both undefeated teams were well balanced.

“Brisbane are very similar to us,” she said.

“They have a wealth of talent across the field. You can’t just lock one or two players down, it’s very well spread.

“Everyone does the work, which is how we look at ourselves too.”

After being outplayed early in the last two games against Carlton and Fremantle, the Crows will be looking for a faster start against the Lions on Saturday night.

The Crows didn’t score in the first quarter against the Dockers in Fremantle, and Goddard admitted her team had gone away from its game plan.

“Last week in the first quarter, I think we tried to sneak a rooster past the sunrise. We started to do things that weren’t us,” she said.

“We started ludicrous handball and didn’t go with what we wanted to do right to start with. I think that was because Fremantle put on a really good handballing show … all of a sudden we thought ‘Oh, it would be nice to do that’.

“We can’t do that. We can’t stray away from what we do well. We’ll be looking this week to bring back our game plan and have four quarters of it.”

Goddard believes that starts in the midfield.

The Crows lost the clearance count 14 - 20 last week, and were also out-tackled.

“Our clearance work over the last couple of weeks probably hasn’t been where we’d like it to be,” Goddard said.

“That’s certainly going to be a focus for us tomorrow night, actually winning the footy first.

“Emma Zielke, Brisbane’s captain, is very good in the middle and they’ve got a couple of hard-hitters that do like to tackle, and their tackle efficiency in the middle is particularly high.

“We’ve got some work to do in the middle this weekend.”

After playing two home games at Thebarton, the Crows will move to Norwood Oval this weekend.

The match starts at 6:40pm (local) and entry is free. Full game day guide

The Crows will check out the ground on Friday evening, and Goddard said the Club was looking forward to playing at the iconic venue.

“The Parade is so historic and it’s such an amazing ground,” she said.

“The first time I went there 12 months ago, I walked in and felt like there were ghosts in the room.

“It’s amazing that we get to play there.”

The winner of Saturday night’s match will move into outright top spot on the AFLW ladder with two rounds to play. The top two teams at the end of the minor round will contest the Grand Final on Saturday, March 25.

See the Crows team for Saturday night's blockbuster at Norwood Oval

Goddard said her side couldn’t afford to look ahead to the potential prize on offer this week.

“They’re all must-win games … it’s not really different,” she said.

“We won’t be talking about it (the final) in the group … we just need to let the season play out. When you put it into perspective, we’ve still only played four games and we’ve won four games. It would be so easy, if we started talking about those things … that we could be 4-3 at the end of the season and we can’t afford to do that.

“We just have to really focus on playing our best football and doing what we do well against Brisbane.”

The top-of-the-table clash at Norwood Oval will be part of a busy weekend in Adelaide, which is also hosting the Clipsal 500 and the Fringe. Goddard hoped footy fans would continue to support her team.

“I think the people of Adelaide love footy. They love all other parts of summer too, I’ve got no doubt, but if you love footy I think you’ll be there tomorrow night because it’s going to be a great game.”