Adelaide recorded an 18-point win against Carlton on Sunday afternoon in the Club’s final AFLW pre-season game.

The Crows’ 7.8 (50) to 5.2 (32) victory at Unley Oval came off the back of a strong first half, in which they held the Blues to just seven points.

Here are the five key takeaways from the match.

All-Australian defender returns to forward line… Just for a half

Premiership and All-Australian defender Chelsea Biddell proved to be a force in attack for Adelaide during the first half against Carlton.

Biddell played 10 games as a forward across the 2020-21 seasons, before a switch to the backlines led to her becoming a key cog in the Crows’ defence.

But in the trial match against Carlton, Adelaide AFLW Senior Coach Matthew Clarke swung the 26-year-old forward - and she impressed by kicking two first-quarter goals.

“Giving Bids a go up forward today was just a needs thing, whereby we had an extra tall up there,” Clarke said.

“Chelsea kicked two early, which was great.

“She’s a beautiful kick, so every time she gets the ball, she gives us a chance and she’s great aerially, too.”

Crows keen to add versatility in 2024

Chelsea Biddell wasn’t the only Crow who switched positions against Carlton, as Clarke looked to move the magnets frequently.

Co-Captain and three-time Premiership defender Sarah Allan had a run in the midfield during the final term, recruit Lily Tarlinton was given a go in the ruck and Chelsea Randall also had minutes on-ball.

“Every year we try to make sure everyone is capable of having a second position that they can go to,” Clarke said.

“We needed that today so we started to see some of that.

“It will all depend (throughout the season) on the stability of the group, in terms of injury and availability but it’s nice to have some options.

“Sarah is trying to continue to develop as a player and she’s got great execution with skills and ball handling, and composure… so she gives us another option.”

Ruck combos provide flexibility

Crows No.1 ruck Jess Allan looked to have started this year with the same momentum as she had in 2023, and she’ll also be given plenty of support by other talls.

Allan’s quality tap hitting was on show against the Blues, as she gave Adelaide’s midfield first-look at the stoppages.

Defender Zoe Prowse and recruit Lily Tarlinton gave Allan a chop out when needed and they more than held their own, according to Clarke.

“Lil has come down from Queensland and she’s trained super hard,” Clarke said.

“She’s got some capacity to play forward, back and she can also pinch hit in the ruck, so I thought she competed really well and followed up really well.

“Zoe was also really solid when she went in.”

First-year midfielder shows plenty of promise

Crows recruit Brooke Boileau was influential during the trial match and will be one to watch should she make her debut this coming season.

The 19-year-old midfielder’s contested work against the Blues was strong, while she also impressed with her workrate and ball use.

Boileau also spent some time in the Crows’ forward line and outworked her opponent to create opportunities.

“Brooke has been training predominantly with the midfield group but switched to half-forward today,” Clarke said.

“She provided good run, pressure and some nice aerial moments.”

Small tweaks to help be Round One ready

Adelaide came away with a three-goal win on Sunday but Clarke said there were still some areas of improvement.

The Crows will be training hard for the next 13 days ahead of the opening round, according to Clarke, giving every player a chance to earn selection.

“We’ll have two good hit-outs this coming week, training Wednesday and Friday and we’ll be working on all facets of the game,” Clarke said.

“Probably in that last quarter today, our execution wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be but in the first half it was where we wanted it to be.

“We’ll be working on a few small tidy-ups from this game but in a broader sense it’s about finishing off our pre-season well.

“We’ve seen our whole squad play across the past two weeks and selection for Round One will be tough but we are in a pretty good position with lots of players putting their hands up."

The Crows play Port Adelaide in Round One at Alberton Oval on Saturday, August 31 at 7pm.

The best way to secure a ticket to the Showdown is to buy a Crows 2024 AFLW membership by clicking the graphic below.

SCOREBOARD

ADELAIDE 3.2 5.4 6.4 7.8 (50)

CARLTON 1.1 1.1 4.2 5.2 (32)

GOALS

ADELAIDE:

Biddell 2, Thompson, Ponter, Newman, Waterhouse, Tonon.