Adelaide defender Sarah Goodwin says she has learnt to overcome self-doubts on her way to becoming a mainstay in the Crows’ backline.

Goodwin was drafted to Port Adelaide in 2022, before arriving at West Lakes ahead of last season via a trade with the Power, and despite playing every game for the Crows in Season Eight, she still had thoughts of not being good enough.

But ahead of this season, the 20-year-old worked hard on her craft and leant on Co-Captain Ebony Marinoff for support to help build her confidence.

Now, ahead of Adelaide’s Week Eight match against Collingwood, Goodwin has not only become a mainstay in defence for the team, but is thriving, averaging 13.6 disposals a game.

Speaking to AFC Media, the half-back said finding belief within herself was a main goal heading into the AFLW’s Season Eight.

“Speaking to Doc (Senior Coach Matthew Clarke) before the season started, it was just about getting confident, being confident was a big one for me,” Goodwin said.

“Coming into the Crows, they’ve always been a pretty good team, so sometimes you can just second guess yourself.

“Noffy has always been really good at helping me, she always tries to get us young girls to be confident in ourselves and keep bringing the energy.”

The Crows are coming off their compressed fixture period, in which they played three games in 10 days, across weeks six and seven.

In the two week-seven games against Melbourne and GWS, Goodwin produced career-high numbers, finishing the matches with 18 and 17 disposals, respectively.

Goodwin said she had found the short turnarounds beneficial, as it ensured she did not dwell on the Wednesday night loss to Melbourne, with the side able to turn its fortunes around to beat GWS on Sunday.

“It’s been pretty good so far, I have just been trying to find some consistency,” Goodwin said.

“I really enjoy playing half-back, I like bringing my run and carry into the game and I also like reading the play, with my intercepting something I pride myself on.

“I have really enjoyed this year and the condensed fixture. We lost that mid-week game but you can quickly put that behind you and focus on the next game.

“That’s been something I’ve liked, the fact you can move on quicker, and any time you get an opportunity to play footy, you take it.”

Adelaide plays Collingwood this Sunday, with the sides facing off for the first time since Round Four, Season Seven (2022).

The Crows will enter the game with a 6-2 win/loss record and Goodwin said it was important to keep the momentum rolling with three minor rounds remaining.

“I think we’ve held up pretty well defensively as a team and capitalised on that up-forward, which we saw against GWS,” Goodwin said.

“They (Collingwood) haven’t had the season they were after but we can’t take anyone lightly in this competition.

“We need to bring our pressure and the same strong ball movement we brought into the game against GWS, so hopefully we can keep the momentum going this week and then hopefully into finals.”

Adelaide faces Collingwood at Victoria Park, Melbourne on Sunday, with the first bounce at 4.35pm (ACDT).

The game will be broadcast live on 7mate Adelaide, Fox Footy and Kayo from 4.30pm.