Crow Ebony Marinoff hopes to see more of Sarah Perkins in the midfield following the forward’s successful move up the field last weekend.
The inclusion of Erin Phillips, who played at full forward against the Western Bulldogs, released Perkins to start in the centre square.
Adelaide’s 2017 leading goalkicker, Perkins found the ball 11 times and was involved in four scores. The All Australian also laid three tackles in her best game of the season so far.
Marinoff was impressed with what she saw from Perkins, saying the clever 24-year-old had created a different dynamic around the ball.
“Perko probably hadn’t had the start to the season that she wanted, and the coaches spoke about what we could do to get her into the game,” Marinoff said.
“She got some inside 50ms and deep forward entries into ‘Flip’ (Phillips), and I think she had a couple of goal assists and score involvements.
“It was great to see her back in good form and hopefully she has another cracker against GWS as well.”
It wasn’t a coincidence that Marinoff also played her best game of 2018 last Saturday.
Marinoff finished with 21 disposals, five score involvements and generated an equal-round high five inside 50ms.
“To bring ‘Perko’ into the midfield, (also helped) to get me going,” she said.
“It took a little bit of pressure off me to do the things I haven’t been able to do.”
With the re-fitted Crows midfield matching the efforts of a strong Bulldogs outfit, the versatile Chelsea Randall was able to continue playing an attacking role off half-back.
Randall, who shares the co-captaincy role with Phillips, collected a game-high 24 disposals.
Adelaide’s back six, including debutant Marijana Rajcic and young key-position player Sarah Allan, lifted around her.
“To see ‘MJ’ (Rajcic) come in and play the game she did as a debutant was awesome,” Marinoff said.
“Her leadership was really good and we’re really glad that she got a crack.
“Sarah Allan, there were some crunch moments where she saved some goals.
“With Chelsea Randall down back (alongside her) the past few weeks, she’s been able to play her role and is gaining some confidence.
“When girls get confident they play good games.”
The structural moves were a flow-on effect of Phillips’ return.
Marinoff said the co-captain and reigning AFLW best and fairest, who missed the opening fortnight with a quad injury, had added more to the team than her four goals on Saturday.
“As soon as all of the girls knew Erin was coming back, it gave them those goosebumps,” she said.
“To know that she was going to be out on the field in such a do-or-die game was awesome”
Erin Phillips and Sarah Perkins were influential for the Crows on Saturday
The Crows will look to leapfrog Greater Western Sydney on the ladder with a win when they travel to Blacktown for a twilight match on Sunday.
The Giants, who only won one game last season, notched up their first victory of 2018 against Collingwood last weekend.
Marinoff said GWS was unlucky not to have more wins on the board this year.
“I think when you look at GWS they’re a whole different team, even the girls who were in the team last year are playing in all sorts of different positions,” she said.
“Their first two games were very close, and those wins could’ve gone either way.
“They’ll be tough over in Sydney.
“They got the win on the weekend … but we have a great belief coming into this week too.”
Marinoff laid a staggering 70 tackles in her seven home and away games last season – a total she is on track to better this season after registering 31 tackles in the first three rounds.
Her record of 14 in one match against the Brisbane Lions in her Rising Star-winning season was broken by Carlton’s Sarah Hosking in Round Two this year.
Marinoff was not far off reclaiming the mantle against the Bulldogs, laying a personal-best 15.
While she’s focused on team success, the 20-year-old has built a reputation for applying relentless pressure and wants to continue doing so against the Giants on Sunday.
“I finished the game with 15 on the weekend, so I’ve got a bit of work to do,” she said with a laugh.
“The win is the most important thing, so we’ll aim for that first.”
