Crows Women’s Senior Coach Bec Goddard says the focus will be on getting the basics right ahead of the team’s first-ever game in Darwin on Saturday.

Adelaide will play Fremantle in a trial match at TIO Stadium at 5:00pm (ACST) on Saturday. The game will be live streamed on afc.com.au via AFL Northern Territory.

For many of the South-Australian based Crows it will be their first trip interstate to play football.

Goddard said it would be a valuable learning experience for everyone involved ahead of the inaugural AFL Women’s competition, which starts in February.

“Little things, like what time we go to bed the night before (the game), how much we hydrate, how long it takes us to get to the airport and what we pack – all of those things that you may not think about – we’ve got to get those down (pat) as a dress rehearsal going into Round One,” Goddard said.

“A successful trip is when everyone turns up and remembers their boots!”

Australian Opals and WNBA star Erin Phillips has offered some insight to her teammates, and is already shaping as a mentor within the playing group.

“Erin travels regularly with basketball, sometimes up to three times a week. I know she’s been talking to the girls a lot about her experience in professional sport,” Goddard said.

“There’s little things that Erin has done around the Club. I saw her come in a couple of weeks ago with a whole heap of her old Australian uniforms and put them in Anne Hatchard’s locker.

“Anne is and up-and-coming basketballer (for the Adelaide Lightning) and it’s fantastic that someone of Erin’s experience is thinking of one of the younger kids in the group and encouraging her.”

The trial between the Crows and Freo is the first AFLW sanctioned women’s match of 2017.

Goddard admitted it would be a challenge to contain the excitement within the group.

“Without trying to dampen their spirits, it is just a practice match at the end of the day,” she said.

“This week we’ve been talking to the girls (saying),’just be calm, just be real and be yourselves. We don’t want anything complicated’.

“It’s natural to be nervous because this is a really exciting time in football for the girls, for the supporters and for the Club.”

The game against AFLW flag favourites Fremantle will be part of a three-day camp for the Crows squad, which is in partnership with AFLNT.

Goddard said her team would use the match to experiment with the line-up ahead of the Club’s first AFLW game against Greater Western Sydney at Thebarton Oval on Saturday, February 4.

“While it’ll be great to see how they (Fremantle) are tracking – and I know a lot of other AFLW coaches are coming to Darwin to have a look at the game as well – we won’t be putting too much emphasis on the result of the game,” she said.

“We just want to see our squad play through a variety of positions and get that experience, so that coming into game one those nerves are a little bit less.”

The Crows are in the unique situation of having training bases in two states: SA and NT.

This weekend will be only the second time the full squad has come together. The camp will also involve a training session and a discussion about the leadership group.

Goddard believed the two-state set-up was a “bonus” for the Crows.

“When they do come together, they are very close. It’s like a very happy family reunited, not one of those explosive families that you sometimes see!”