The Adelaide and Williamstown Football Clubs have established a partnership which allows the Adelaide AFLW players to continue to be involved in the VFLW competition.

The agreement will see up to five Crows women’s players representing the Seagulls in each game in 2020 and beyond.

As part of the agreement, Williamstown coaches, staff and players will link up with Adelaide’s women’s team during Melbourne trips, with a view to maximising learning and professional development opportunities.

Crows General Manager of Football Administration Phil Harper said the Club welcomed the partnership with Williamstown and the associated benefits it will have for both clubs.

“The success of our AFLW team is reliant on a strong off-season competition for the players, and this partnership will allow them to continue to develop their skills,” Harper said.

“It is beneficial for our players to continue to develop with regular games in a strong competition.”

Williamstown CEO Jason Reddick was equally enthusiastic about the partnership.

“Williamstown was seeking to align with an AFLW club in order to receive access to elite level playing talent and mentoring for our coaching and high-performance staff.”

“We greatly respect what Adelaide have achieved in the AFLW and we are excited about how this partnership will help advance our own VFLW program and talent pathway.”

Harper said the Williamstown partnership would replace the one the Club had with Darwin-based NT Thunder, which also competed in the VFLW in 2019.

“Our alignment with the NT Thunder worked well and certainly contributed to our 2019 premiership success,” Harper said. 

“But we had to look for another option when our AFLNT partnership came to an end recently.

“We are looking forward to the new partnership with Williamstown getting underway next year.”

The 2020 VFLW season is set to begin around May after the completion of the AFLW season.