After seven rounds of action and two lopsided preliminary finals, only one match is left in the 2019 AFL Women’s season and on Sunday, the Adelaide Crows and Carlton Blues will fight it out for the premiership at the Adelaide Oval.
Both the Crows and Blues finished at the top of their respective conferences after the regular season, with the Crows winning their last seven after losing to the Western Bulldogs by just one point in the first round, and the Blues winning five of their last six after losing their first two matches under new coach Daniel Harford.
Both sides were ruthless in their respective preliminary finals, with the Crows smothering the Geelong Cats out of the contest at the Adelaide Oval and Carlton seeing off a first-quarter challenge from Fremantle to become the fourth different club to qualify for the grand final.
Again, Crows co-captain Erin Phillips – who is firming in favouritism for the AFLW’s best and fairest award – proved unstoppable with 22 disposals, while Ebony Marinoff picked up 22 possessions and kicked two majors as the Crows kept the Cats scoreless until the dying moments of the final quarter.
(Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)
Apart from Phillips and Marinoff enjoying successful seasons individually, Stevie-Lee Thompson has also topped the goal-kicking with 13 goals for the season, one more than last year’s leading goal-kicker, the Western Bulldogs’ Brooke Lochland.
Meanwhile, after a huge week off the field, Tayla Harris let her football do the talking as the Blues defeated Fremantle by six goals, with Darcy Vescio and Brianna Davey also among their best players.
For the club, it shapes as a huge weekend for their fans in the City of Churches, with the men’s side also in town for their clash against Port Adelaide at the same venue the previous day.
Twelve months after claiming the wooden spoon, they will also have the chance to complete the greatest single season turnaround in AFL/AFLW history by winning the flag, which would be the first for club in any capacity since 1995.
It will also be the first grand final for the Blues in any capacity since 1999, when the men’s team lost to North Melbourne by 35 points a week after famously defeating Essendon by one point in the preliminary final.
As the Crows finished with more premiership points than the Blues, the match will be played at the Adelaide Oval, where the hosts will start as huge favourites to secure their second flag in three seasons and cement themselves as the most successful side in the AFLW’s short history.
The match will be televised on the Seven Network nationally. First bounce is at 12.40pm Adelaide time this Sunday, March 31.
Adelaide Crows lead the head-to-head encounters 3-0, and defeated the Blues earlier this season in Round 2, 9.3 (57) to 7.2 (44) at Ikon Park.
The stats that matter
- This is Adelaide’s second AFLW grand final, while for Carlton this is their first.
- This is Carlton’s first grand final in any capacity since 1999, when its men’s team lost to North Melbourne after famously defeating Essendon in the preliminary final.
- Adelaide Oval becomes the third different venue to host an AFLW grand final after Metricon Stadium in 2017 and Ikon Park last year.
- Up to 15 players – Angela Foley, Jenna McCormick, Sally Riley, Deni Varnhagen, Ebony Marinoff, Erin Phillips, Stevie-Lee Thompson, Jessica Sedunary, Courtney Cramey, Justine Mules, Chelsea Randall, Sarah Perkins, Dayna Cox, Anne Hatchard and Sarah Allan – all have the chance to become the first two-time AFLW premiership players, each of these players having featured in the Crows’ 2017 AFLW flag.
- Rhiannon Metcalfe also featured in the 2017 flag, but is sitting out this season due to a knee injury she suffered during the pre-season.
- From the current Carlton squad, Tayla Harris is the only player with previous AFLW grand final experience, having featured in the Brisbane Lions side which lost to the Crows in 2017.
My predictions? The Adelaide Crows by 20 points, with Stevie-Lee Thompson booting the first goal and Erin Phillips winning best on ground.
Eden
Guest
Adelaide at home are the favourites (and deservedly so) but if Carlton can play like they played last week we should be in for a close game (and high scoring) game.
Darren
Guest
I feel Carlton are peaking at the right time? Will it be enough? Not sure, but Crows will need to be at their best. The improvement in Chloe Dalton and Brooke Walker could be an x-factor
Downsey
Roar Pro
Crows will belt them. Never a truer word spoken.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
The Crows have looked a class apart all season. Even in that first round loss, against the dogs, I'll happily admit that they were the better side for most of the game. Ever since that game, the Crows have made their dominance count on the scoreboard. Worth noting that in that time, it's Carlton which has got the closest, and while I expect the Crows to be too good, the blues have a few top shelf players, and all will need to be at their best to give themselves half a chance. On a side note, I was just reading the results of a recent Morgan survey, and Austrlian Football showed the best growth rate for last year, and that's pretty much down to the establishment of the AFL Womens.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
It's usually against my irreligion to even acknowledge Carlton's existance but that was a cracking upset over Freo. Don't think they can do it again but I'm interested.
Avatar
Roar Guru
The reason why Fitzroy went from spooners to premiers in 1916 was because due to World War I, only four teams (Carlton, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Richmond) participated, and all teams were to play finals regardless of where they finished. Outside of that season, no team in the history of professional Australian rules football has gone from spooners to premiers within 12 months. The closest any team has come to doing this was Essendon in 1907-08 and Collingwood in 1976-77 when they finished last and then finished runners-up. The swiftest rise from spooners to premiers came when Essendon finished last in 1921 and then won back-to-back flags in 1923-24.
Ben
Roar Guru
The AFLW and AFL are two different leagues. Why does there have to be a comparison in every single article about the AFLW... After all, the AFLW want to stand on their own, don't they? My prediction - Crows by plenty; Erin Phillips BOG. She's a special athlete.
Gordon P Smith
Roar Guru
Hard to argue with any of your predictions, and I’d push the margin higher myself. Thirty, perhaps. I do have a point of order about it being the biggest turnaround in AFL/AFLW history – because this is only a ten-team league (and was just eight last year), Carlton’s only moving up at most nine places, and more accurately seven from their eighth place finish last summer. By contrast, Richmond jumped from 13th place in 2016 to the premiership the next season. Geelong went tenth to title ten years earlier. (And if you want to get really weird, Fitzroy jumped from the wooden spoon to the title IN THE SAME SEASON back in 1916.) So I’m not statistically impressed by the Blues’ jump this season. I am, however, VERY impressed with their game plan change and addition of speed and skill that’s allowed them to implement that change. As badly as I feel for the missing 6-1 teams, I’m glad Carlton gets the chance to show this off against the best on Sunday.