YOU CAN'T wipe the smile off Chelsea Randall's face.
As much as the inspirational Adelaide skipper would like to turn all attention to her side's quest for a third premiership in six years, there's no denying missing last year's Grand Final through concussion still hurts.
It was the first significant omission on the back of the AFL's newly introduced 12-day concussion policy, where players are unable to take to the field for that time after being diagnosed.
Randall won plenty of admirers for her mature approach to the heart-breaking situation, choosing to use the experience to raise awareness of the need to rest and recover after suffering concussion.
If last weekend's preliminary final signalled a return to full fitness after a hamstring injury, then Friday's captains' press conference was a redemption of sorts.
"That was unfortunate circumstances, missing last year's Grand Final," Randall said.
"It is what it is, and I'm just stoked. I remember walking through the doors (to the press conference) this time last year, and the difference is I'll be pulling on the boots tomorrow, so I'm really excited to be able to play with my teammates, and we'll see how we go."
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On redemption, Adelaide players have spoken throughout the season about their desire to atone for last year's Grand Final loss to Brisbane, which was also held at Adelaide Oval.
"I think for some girls, it was a bit of a driver for us during pre-season, and as we've continued on throughout the season, it's very much been that this is a brand new group that we're working with," Randall said.
"You can't change the past, what's done is done. We can only look forward to the future and live in the present moment right now. We're just enjoying the journey and are going to go out there and play the best footy we can."
Opposing captain Daisy Pearce is through to her first AFLW decider, but has plenty of experience leading premiership sides in the VWFL with Darebin Falcons.
"It feels like the overriding emotion has been excitement about the opportunity that we have, but just taking each day and the week as it comes and enjoy what's on offer," Pearce said.
"It probably took the weekend to sink in, that we finally had this opportunity that we've been chasing, and then pretty quickly turned our attention to the job and the opportunity at hand."
Melbourne's history with AFLW finals has been somewhat torturous for fans.
The Demons finished just outside the top two in 2017 and 2018, missed finals in the lop-sided conference system of 2019, had qualified for a preliminary final in 2020 before the abandonment of the season and lost the 2021 prelim to Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.
"It's a culmination of all the experiences over the five seasons we've had. We feel like we've been close, but not good enough ultimately, so there's been lessons from each of those seasons," Pearce said.
"Even within this season, I feel like we've improved as the year's gone along, and the result of that is that we're stronger than we ever have been before. I think that's probably the difference.
"We probably had questions in our own heads in other years because we weren't ready, we weren't good enough, but our belief is right there that we have the tools to go out there and have a real crack tomorrow."
