A PLAYER with links to football royalty will make her AFL Women’s competition debut for Adelaide against Carlton on Sunday.
Danielle Ponter, an 18-year-old from Darwin, is the niece of Essendon legend Michael Long and a cousin of Hawthorn great Cyril Rioli.
Ponter was unlucky to be overlooked for last weekend's heart-breaking one-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Crows coach Matthew Clarke said Ponter deserved her opportunity.
"She played in the Darwin (practice) game (against Fremantle in January). She a really strong game and was a little bit stiff to miss out last week," he said.
"We're really excited about what she brings. She's got enormous talent, has elite skills and she's working really hard.
"She's going to play predominately through the back half, but she's also got capacity to go forward and potentially midfield down the track.”
The Crows have also recalled key forward Sarah Perkins, who has returned to full fitness after sustaining a back injury before Christmas.
"She's been able to train consistently since the Darwin game," Clarke said.
"She hadn't done any training prior to that, so it's great she's ready to go.
"She'll definitely give us a bit extra presence forward of the ball."
The Crows are looking to be more accurate in front of goal after kicking a wayward 1.11 last week.
"We did a little bit (of goalkicking practice) in both (training) sessions and it's been part of the pre-season," the first-year coach said.
"If we went out last Saturday and tried to kick 1.11, we wouldn't have been able to.
"It was one of those nights. The Bulldogs' pressure (contributed to it).
"It's all well and good to kick goals in training in controlled pressure, but they were at us."
Perkins replaces Jenna McCormick, who has W-League commitments with the Brisbane Roar, while midfielder Sophie Li also misses out.
The Blues also finalised their team on Friday afternoon, with onballer Georgia Gee replacing midfielder Tilly Lucas-Rodd, who was omitted.
Fremantle confirmed one change for its match against Brisbane – forward Ashlee Atkins was named on the bench, replacing omitted defender Laura Pugh.
Tori Groves-Little comes in for the Lions, replacing fellow mid Gabby Collingwood.
Geelong was forced to make some late changes to its selected team to take on the Western Bulldogs after confirming young star Nina Morrison would miss the rest of the year with a serious knee injury.
Defender Georgia Clarke comes into the 21, with forward Georgie Rankin, originally omitted, now an emergency.
Friday, February 8
Greater Western Sydney v North Melbourne at Drummoyne Oval, 7.15pm AEDT
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
B: P.Randall 21, E.Swanson 17, P.Monahan 28
HB: A.Farrugia (c), 18 T.Hetherington 9, E.Brush 10
C: A.Eva 2
HF: J.Dal Pos 7, J.Barclay 34, H.Zreika 24
F: C.Bernardi 4, C.Staunton 13, Y.Bonner 27
Foll: E.McKinnon 23, C.Gum 26, R.Beeson 6
I/C: N.Barr 8, L.Stephenson 12, E.Bennetts 22, A.Parker 3, B.Perry 19
Emg: M.Collier 14, T.Mackrill 32
In: E.Brush, J.Barclay, B.Perry
Out: J.Hicks, A.Schmidt (injured), M.Collier
NORTH MELBOURNE
B: T.Randall 16, J.Grierson 19, E.Humphries 6
HB: B.Gibson 18, D.Hardiman 31, J.Duffin 27
C: E.Kearney (c) 9
HF: K.Gillespie-Jones 5, J.Garner 25, J.Bruton 35
F: S.Abbatangelo 1, M.Hope 23, K.Ashmore 10
Foll: Emma King 60, J.Stanton 17, A.Riddell 7
I/C: N.Bresnehan 12, J.Trend 21, Elisha King 4, A.Drennan 8, D.Bateman 11
Emg: C.Munn 13, C.Haines 29
In: Elisha King
Out: G.Nanscawen
Saturday, February 9
Collingwood v Melbourne at Victoria Park, 4.45pm AEDT
COLLINGWOOD
B: J.Allen 6, A.Brazill 10, I.Ross 21
HB: S.Livingstone 12, S.Casey 22, E.Grant 5
C: E.Hynes 11
HF: G.Gourlay 32, S.D'Arcy 4, K.Lynch 16
F: S.Rowe 7, M.Cann 25, C.McIntosh 20
Foll: S.Layton 1, S.Chiocci (c) 17, J.Lambert 13
I/C: R.Schleicher 18, L.Butler 23, S.Dargan 46, B.Bonnici 8, E.Fowler 15
Emg: H.Whitford 28, M.Shevlin 35
In: E.Hynes, K.Lynch
Out: K.Stratton (injured), S.Alexander (injured)
MELBOURNE
B: M.Downie 2, H.Cordner 21, C.Emonson 11
HB: S.Lampard 8, C.Phillips 35, K.Smith 13
C: E.O'Dea (c) 5
HF: M.Gay 3, S.Scott 12, A.Newman 16
F: E.Zanker 29, T.Cunningham 1, K.Hore 10
Foll: L.Pearce 15, L.Mithen 14, K.Paxman 4
I/C: B.Jakobsson 7, T.Hanks 28, A.Kemp 36, A.Guest 17, A.Woodland 19
Emg: M.Guerin 22, B.Patterson 24
In: A.Kemp, A.Guest
Out: S.Sloane (injured), C.Whitfort
Western Bulldogs v Geelong at VU Whitten Oval, 7.15pm AEDT
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: L.Birch 18, L.Spark 11, B.Hunt 21
HB: N.Ferres 16, T.Ernst 19, H.Scott 22
C: K.Lamb 27
HF: N.Callinan 10, K.Brennan 3, B.Toogood 28
F: K.McLeod 6, E.Mackie 25, A.Utri 23
Foll: K.Rennie 24, M.Conti 8, E.Blackburn (c) 2
I/C: C.Moody 13, E.Brown 9, A.Gogos 36, D.Berry 7, A.McCarthy 15
Emg: B.Smith 12, S.Karlson 26
In: A.McCarthy
Out: B.Smith
GEELONG
B: A.Teague 40, R.Goring (c) 44, C.Blakeway 4
HB: D.Taylor 28, M.McDonald 11, R.Webster 21
C: R.Garing 12
HF: G.Clarke 17, M.Boyd 26, S.Van De Heuvel 27
F: K.Darby 8, P.McWilliams 23, J.Ivey 5
Foll: A.O'Connor 14, J.Crockett-Grills 6, O.Purcell 16
I/C: E.Hoare 46, M.Clifford 7, M.McMahon 24, D.Orr 2, M.Keryk 45
Emg: M.Fogas 13, G.Rankin 10
In: P.McWilliams, E.Hoare, G.Clarke
Out: G.Rankin, M.Fogas, N.Morrison (knee)
Sunday, February 10
Carlton v Adelaide at Ikon Park, 4.05pm AEDT
CARLTON
B: S.Hosking 10, K.Harrington 9, N.Stevens 21
HB: G.Pound 6, B.Davey (c) 1, L.Brazzale 12
C: G.Gee 19
HF: M.Prespakis 4, T.Harris 7, D.Vescio 3
F: K.Bentley 13, A.Downie 30, N.Plane 32
Foll: B.Moody 16, K.Loynes 2, C.Dalton 15
I/C: J.Hosking 11, J.Van Dyk 36, S.Audley 26, A.Barden 8, J.Edwards 25
Emerg: B.Walker, R.Watt
In: G.Gee
Out: T.Lucas-Rodd
ADELAIDE
B: A.Foley 3, S.Allan 39, S.Thompson 14
HB: D.Cox 31, C.Randall 26, C.Cramey 22
C: E.Marinoff 10
HF: M.Rajcic 32, A.Hatchard 33, A.Considine 16
F: C.Scheer 4, E.Phillips (c) 13, J.Mules 23
Foll: J.Foley 24, D.Varnhagen 9, R.Forth 27
I/C: H.Martin 6, M.Nankivell 12, S.Perkins 28, E.Jones 2, D.Ponter 15
Emerg: S.Li, S.Riley
In: S.Perkins, D.Ponter
Out: J.McCormick (W-League), S.Li
Fremantle v Brisbane at Fremantle Oval, 3.05pm AWST
FREMANTLE
B: E.Gooch 8, T.Bresland 5, A.Stannett 24
HB: A.Williams 9, E.Antonio 12, P.Seth 18
C: S.Cain 20
HF: K.Gibson 21, G.Houghton 27, G.O'Sullivan 22
F: H.Miller 19, A.Sharp 1, K.Bowers 2
Foll: P.Laurie 11, D.Hooker 17, K.Donnellan (c) 15
I/C: S.Duffy 6, K.Grieve 13, L.Mascall 14, M.Caulfield 10, A.Atkins 37
Emerg: B.Moyes, L.Pugh
In: A.Atkins
Out: L.Pugh
BRISBANE
B: S.Virgo 5, S.Webb 4, N.Exon 15
HB: S.Campbell 20, L.Kaslar (c) 11, K.Lutkins 13
C: E.Pittman 19
HF: L.Arnell 16, M.Dowrick 33, E.Zielke 8
F: J.Wuetschner 23, S.Frederick-Traub 14, J.Zanchetta 7
Foll: J.Tawhiao-Wardlaw 30, E.Bates 1, A.Anderson 18
I/C: A.Clarke 21, P.Parker 10, L.Bella 32, N.Grider 17, K.McCarthy 9, T.Groves-Little 26, G.Collingwood 28
Emerg: N.Grider, G.Collingwood
In: T.Groves-Little
Out: G.Collingwood
