Adelaide recruit Niamh Kelly will make her Club debut in the Crows’ AFLW Season Seven opener against Melbourne on Friday night.

Kelly, a former West Coast winger, joined Adelaide during the Sign and Trade period in June after 26 games with the Eagles.

Hailing from Ireland, 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.

Adelaide AFLW Senior Coach Matthew Clarke said Kelly had earned her selection and deserved an opportunity to showcase her skills in the opening round.

“Niamh came over from West Coast and will play her first game for the Crows, which is really exciting for her and for the group,” Clarke said.

“She’s fitted in really well, she’s full of energy, full of enthusiasm and I think she’s going to be one the fans will enjoy watching.”

Defender Lisa Whiteley is among the inclusions in the side and will play her first match since Round Nine last season, while Chelsea Biddell has made a solid recovery after fracturing her eye socket during pre-season to be selected in the team.

Clarke said the side was ready for the Grand Final rematch.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge,” Clarke said.

“Clearly we’d love to win (against Melbourne), we want to get off to a great start, but we’ve got a fair bit of respect for our opponent.

“They’re highly talented right across the path and the result from the Grand Final went our way, but there’s a lot of metrics that they were going alright in as well.

“It’ll be a great match and we can’t wait.”

Adelaide takes on Melbourne in a Grand Final rematch at Glenelg Oval on Friday, with the first bounce at 7.10pm.

Tickets available here.

Adelaide’s Round One AFLW team is: