MELBOURNE and Adelaide will meet for a fourth final across their AFLW histories, with the aim of progressing to a fourth or seventh preliminary final, respectively.

DEMONS v CROWS Follow it LIVE

Injuries headline things for the Demons, with important pair Eden Zanker and Maeve Chaplin both ruled out, while the Crows will be pleased to have Chelsea Randall back, and in form.

Where and when: Ikon Park, Saturday November 15, 1.05pm AEDT

Head-to-head: Melbourne (six wins), Adelaide (five wins)

Last time they met: Melbourne 2.4 (16) d Adelaide 1.8 (14), week seven, 2024

It was a physical, dour contest when these sides last met, with Adelaide failing to take its chances and ultimately fell by two points. The Crows won the disposal count by 43, and the uncontested possessions by 40, but let themselves down in front of goal. Melbourne had just come out of a horror month of losses, and it was the club's return to form, despite being seriously tested for player availability – top up player Sarah D'Arcy played in the win. Kate Hore (19 disposals, six clearances) earned the three AFLW best and fairest votes, but it was Ebony Marinoff (29 disposals, 17 tackles, 10 clearances) and Sinead Goldrick (19 disposals, 10 intercepts) who caught the eye of the coaches.

KEY MATCH-UP

Paxy Paxman v Niamh Kelly

Kelly has been named in the All-Australian squad this year thanks to her freewheeling, aggressive attacking run, and it was an especially important part of Adelaide's win last week. Moving the ball forward at speed is crucial against Melbourne and Kelly is going to be key to that on Saturday afternoon. For the Demons, Paxman has arguably the best balance between defensive mindset and winning her own footy, meaning she is likely the best winger to run alongside Kelly for the duration.

Focusing on limiting Kelly's movement around the back of stoppage as a sweeper and closing down the space in which she is able to move will go a long way toward starving the Crows of attacking opportunities. In the process, Paxman can be seriously dangerous with ball in hand, averaging 15.1 disposals and three score involvements per game this season.

WHERE IT WILL BE WON

Typically such a strong line for Melbourne, its backline has shown some real vulnerability this year. Part of this is a result of personnel, but it is also a result of quicker ball movement the club has allowed opposition sides further up the field. When teams are able to sling the footy into attack quickly against the Demons, it does cause a sense of panic for the backline – as evidenced by the four-minute period in the second quarter last week in which it gave up three goals from free kicks. This will be something Adelaide will aim to capitalise on.

Although Melbourne's defensive numbers this season look stronger on face value, across the last three weeks it is in fact Adelaide's defensive performances that have stood stronger. The Crows are conceding 28.3 points from 36.3 inside 50s over their last three matches compared to the Demons' 48.7 points from the same number of inside 50s.

This makes centre stoppages particularly important, with the likes of Sarah Goodwin, Danielle Ponter and Ebony Marinoff needing to achieve quick, front-side clearances to put Melbourne's defence under the pump. But it is very rare for the Demons' midfield to have two down weeks in a row. Last week there was too much reliance on Kate Hore to get the job done, while Tyla Hanks battled it out with Belle Dawes. Expect to see Hanks, Megan Fitzsimon, and Shelley Heath lift on Saturday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Melbourne coach Mick Stinear will have to get creative in attack in the absence of leading goalkicker Eden Zanker. It offers less flexibility with how Tayla Harris is used, and it means Georgia Gall will need to recapture her mid-season form. It offers the Crows the luxury of using Zoe Prowse as a forward once again to stretch Melbourne's backline for height.

PREDICTION

While there is a real temptation to be lulled into Adelaide's strong performance last week, it's the Demons who will win through to a preliminary final. Melbourne by seven points.

A GUTSY fourth term has seen Melbourne accelerate away from Adelaide, securing an 11-point semi-final victory and setting up a preliminary final against North Melbourne. 

Scores were level at three-quarter time, but Melbourne skipper Kate Hore struck first, ducking through a tackle to snap truly for her third, capping off an extraordinary captain's match from the game-breaker.

DEMONS v CROWS Full match coverage and stats

But it was lesser lights who helped the Dees break clear of the high-quality, see-sawing affair.

The speed of Shelley Heath, the smarts of Maggie Mahony (showing composure throughout the game far beyond her 19 years) and the set shots of Ryleigh Wotherspoon and Georgia Campbell, and all of a sudden Melbourne locked away the 9.6 (60) to 7.7 (49) victory, with Ebony Marinoff securing a late consolation goal to trim the margin.

A final-second run-down tackle of champion Chelsea Randall by 190cm Tahlia Gillard was icing on the cake for the Dees.

The match also signalled the end of premiership coach Matthew Clarke's career at Adelaide, having announced pre-season that 2025 would be his last in charge. The Crows coach made a beeline for counterpart Mick Stinear (coaching his 100th match) on the siren, shaking hands while the first rendition of Melbourne's song rang out.

Melbourne has been a traditionally strong first-quarter side this year, and Saturday's semi-final was no exception, with both Megan Fitzsimon and Hore finding the middle of the sticks with snaps in the opening five minutes.

Adelaide left the Demons' forward line far too open, allowing for leading lanes and room at ground level when the ball hit the deck

Anne Hatchard blew a perfect opportunity to kick Adelaide's opening goal after taking a powerful overhead mark in the square. She took her snap set-shot far too casually, hammering the ball into the goal-post, but Caitlin Gould spared her blushes a minute later, converting her own set shot for a seven-point play.

The normally mild-mannered Clarke gave Adelaide a proper rocket before the players broke into their line groups at quarter-time after the Crows had blown several chances with bombs into attack, before conceding a buzzer-beater to Mahony on the siren.

It had a definite short-term effect, with ruck Jess Allan juggling a mark, before Teah Charlton snatched the lead with a goal-line crumb on a sharp angle.

Trailing by 13 at half-time, Melbourne put Tayla Harris into the ruck to get her around the ball, and it helped stabilise the Dees and provide some extra bounce through the middle of the ground, pulling four ahead in the clearance count, which had been level to that point.

Adelaide' Chelsea Biddell was exceptional on the last line of defence, as was Gillard down the other end of the field, the two showing tremendous composure under the hottest of finals pressure.

Danielle Ponter was the victim of a clash of knees late in the third term and started the fourth on the bench, but returned to play out the game.

Adelaide gets the rub of the green
There's no doubting the Crows came out breathing fire in the second term, but they also benefited from some free kicks in their front half as the quarter progressed. Zoe Prowse (playing in attack, with Chelsea Randall behind the ball) was given a 50m penalty for a marginally late push after her mark, there was a mid-field free kick reversal which led to a Niamh Kelly major, and Ponter was also the beneficiary of a whistle in front of goal just before the half-time siren.

A captain's goal
Melbourne posted a compilation video of fans' messages of support a few days before the game, with one passionate older gentleman entreating Stinear to play Hore at full-forward. The skipper rested out of the goal-square in the third term – up against the well and truly in-form Biddell – and produced a fabulous dribbling major from a tight angle to snatch back the lead.

MELBOURNE      3.2     4.3     6.5     9.6     (60)
ADELAIDE          1.2     6.4     6.5     7.7     (49)

GOALS
Melbourne: Hore 3, Mahony 2, Fitzsimon, Mackin, Wotherspoon, Campbell
Adelaide: Gould, J.Allan, Charlton, Prowse, N.Kelly, Ponter, Marinoff

BEST
Melbourne: Hore, Hanks, Mahony, Gillard, Heath, Harris
Adelaide: Marinoff, Biddell, N.Kelly, Newman, Hatchard

INJURIES
Melbourne: Nil
Adelaide: Nil

Crowd: 2,624 at Ikon Park