DESPITE significant injuries, Adelaide has been voted as the favourite for the 2020 AFLW premiership by the coaches.
Five coaches have tipped the Crows to go back-to-back in an anonymous survey on womens.afl.
COACHES’ SURVEY Who is the best forward in AFLW?
The Crows will be without co-captain Chelsea Randall for the entire season after suffering an ACL injury late last year, while Erin Phillips, Chloe Scheer and Rhiannon Metcalfe could also miss the first part of the season as they recover from their respective ACL injuries.
"I just think their (Adelaide's) style of contest work is better than anyone else's. My theory on AFLW is if you look at the average chain of possessions in AFLW, it's 4.3, before the ball's turned over," one coach said.
"If you think about that, how many times the ball is in dispute or on the ground, and as the game goes on, people get more tired, so your skilled players get tired, but the big bodies are still the big bodies."
COACHES’ SURVEY Who is the most underrated player?
Three coaches tipped Melbourne, with superstar Daisy Pearce returning for the upcoming season.
North Melbourne was the only other side to attract multiple votes, although the poll was taken prior to the news of Jess Duffin's pregnancy.
Voting results
5 – Adelaide
3 – Melbourne
2 – North Melbourne
1 – Brisbane, Collingwood, Gold Coast, Geelong
This is part of a series which saw each AFLW senior coach surveyed anonymously about who they regard as the best in the competition.