Adelaide utility Hannah Munyard says her defensive pressure has helped “add another dimension” to the Crows’ forward set-up.

The 23-year-old knew she would need to step up in the absence of mercurial forward Eloise Jones and a rotation of players managed due to the compressed fixture. 

And she has done just that, playing a key role in Adelaide’s win over Greater Western Sydney on Sunday, laying five tackles, recording 15 pressure acts and kicking a classy major.

Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Munyard said had worked hard to become a more versatile forward.

“With the players we’ve had go down (in the forward half), I along with girls like Keeley Kustermann have had more of an opportunity to step up in the forward line, which has been great,” Munyard said. 

“I feel like my forward 50 pressure has been good, that’s something I’ve really focused on, laying tackles inside the forward 50. 

“That’s what I base my game on, and I feel that adds another dimension to our forward line, everything else outside of that (my pressure) is a bonus.”

Munyard showed she had the skill to match her tenacious pressure against St Kilda in Week Six, where she produced a stunning checkside major. 

The effort drew widespread praise across the football world, and earned the 23-year-old a winning Goal of the Year nomination.

For Munyard, the effort has been more impactful than just the six points, as it helped give her the confidence to take the game on in the Crows’ attacking half.

“After it happened I couldn’t really believe it, I didn’t think that was something I would ever do, but I was running along the boundary, didn’t see a better option and decided to have a ping,” Munyard said.

“Seeing that go through was certainly a confidence booster, especially in that game, after doing that early on it gave me more belief to keep playing that way.

“A lot of us up forward are confidence players, so it is nice to get a little boost from efforts like that, and I’ve tried to keep that going into the next few weeks.” 

The Crows are coming off their compressed fixture period, which led to them playing three games in 10 days, across weeks six and seven. 

Munyard said the squad had come out of the period in good shape, and enjoyed the experience of backing up for games quickly.

“We didn’t mind it at all really, it was pretty exciting to play so much footy so quickly and it was a nice little break-up from the routine,” Munyard said.

“We trained very hard over the pre-season to prepare for this fixture block and I think we saw that in the way we ran out the Giants game. 

“I don’t think anyone’s bodies are too sore and it was actually pretty fun.”