It took just one phone call for new Adelaide recruit Niamh Kelly to feel a connection with the Club.

Kelly joined the Crows earlier this month following a trade with West Coast and, speaking to AFC Media, the 26-year-old said Adelaide was where she wanted to continue her career.

“I suppose my first phone call that I had was with Phil (Harper), Doc (Matthew Clarke) and Katrina (Gill) and from the very start I knew it was a place I knew I could settle in,” Kelly said.

“I admire their attitudes and their values as a Club.

“I like how they’re very family orientated, especially when you’re coming from the other side of the world, that means a lot to me as well.

“I was very impressed by Doc’s knowledge of the game and also the knowledge he had about my game as well and how I could improve.

“They are a fantastic team and that’s evident with what they’ve achieved in the past couple of years - winning three Premierships and I am very excited to be moving across.”

Originally from Mayo, Ireland, Kelly was picked by the Eagles as an international rookie in 2019.

The speedy winger went on to play 26 AFLW games.

Kelly is also an accomplished Gaelic player who captained County Mayo’s representative team in 2019 and led the county to an All-Ireland final.

She said she was eager for a new challenge and thought switching to the Crows would be a great chance to improve.

“I have had three great years at West Coast and I’ve loved my time there and getting to know the game coming from Gaelic,” Kelly said.

“I suppose I saw this as an opportunity to grow and develop my football career.

“I’m excited to continue improving my game and getting to know how the girls play at the Crows and I’ll continue to learn from some of the best in the game.”

Kelly’s sister, Grace, also made the move from Ireland to Australia and the pair lined up alongside each other at the Eagles.

Grace has also switched clubs and will play with St Kilda in Season Seven.

Kelly conceded having her sister as an opponent would be interesting but she was looking forward to the change up.

“It will be different not playing alongside each other,” Kelly said.

“Hopefully we do get to play against them (St Kilda) - we are definitely both very competitive as well, so I’m sure it will be great.”

Kelly returned to Ireland at the end of March to spend time with her family and friends but  will arrive in Adelaide early next month.

She has, however, already met one of her Crows teammates after catching up with fellow Irish local Ailish Considine.

“I’ve been following Ailish quite a lot from the start and I actually met her last week for a kick about here in Ireland,” Kelly said.

“We live about two and a half hours away from each other but we met up for a kick - she’s so lovely and she had only great things to say about the Club.

“She definitely made me more excited about the move across and it will be lovely to have another Irish person around the Club, too.”