Coach Bec Goddard is holding a pair of Crows women's team co-captain Chelsea Randall’s earrings captive.
Randall gave the earrings to Goddard for safe keeping before a training session last month.
Now the superstitious coach, who has guided the Crows to the top of the AFLW ladder after three rounds, is reluctant to give them back.
“Before the season started, Chelsea Randall gave me a pair of her fake pearl earrings at training and put them in my pocket,” Goddard said on Wednesday.
“I forgot about them and I put them through the washing machine a few times. A week ago, Chelsea said to me, ‘Oh, have you got those earrings?’
“I found them at home last (Tuesday) night and I sent her a message, ‘The good news is, I’ve found your earrings. The bad news is, I don’t think I can give them back to you now because we’ve won three from three!’
“We agreed that at the end of the season they could be returned to her! I’m a bit superstitious like that.”
Even with Randall’s earrings in her possession, Goddard is refusing to talk about her team’s prospects beyond Sunday’s clash with Fremantle in Western Australia. The match starts at 4:05pm local time (6:35pm SA time) and will be broadcast live into SA on 7Mate and nationally on Fox Footy. A live stream is also available via AFL.com.au or the AFL App.
The Crows are percentage ahead of the also unbeaten Brisbane Lions on the AFLW ladder. The top two teams at the end of the seven-week season will play in the Grand Final.
Goddard described external talk about the final as premature.
“I don’t want to talk about it because you’re cursing me!” she said with a laugh.
“Never before have I been in a competition where you win three games and people are talking about Grand Finals! It’s kind of crazy in a way.
“We don’t buy into that (talk). It’s white noise outside of our group and outside of what we’re doing. We certainly don’t hear it inside our team meetings and the girls aren’t talking about it amongst themselves, which is a really good way to approach things.”