ADELAIDE overpowered Carlton on Sunday to win the NAB AFL Women's Grand Final, the club's second AFLW premiership in three seasons. Reporter Sarah Black ventured into the Crows' rooms at Adelaide Oval and got reactions from some of the players.
Anne Hatchard
"It's incredible…all the hard work has finally paid off. It's just amazing."
On the second quarter, when Adelaide set up the win: "We really brought the pressure to Carlton and we were able to transfer that onto the scoreboard."
On her own season: "I'm feeling on top of the world. Being able to play with these girls has been amazing, and being able to take my own game to the next level has just been awesome."
Jenna McCormick
"It's amazing, I can't really describe it, to be honest. We've had an amazing season and it's just the cherry on top of the cake, really."
On her workload (balancing footy and W-League soccer: "I feel like my body is now used to 'go, go, go,' with the last six months being soccer and then footy. I don't feel too bad, actually, I'm ready to keep going."
On playing in defence after two years forward: "It's different. It's nice to learn new things, play with some really great players. It's nice to know what we do contributes to keeping the team going."
Eloise Jones
"I'm chuffed. Can't believe we did it, but I'm happy about it."
On the second quarter: "We finally got that run out the back going, which we've done really well in other games. It opened up for us, we were using each other, we had our run and our kick-on leads, so that worked really well for us and went on through the game."
On her second season of AFLW: "There were areas where I could have been better in, but in the end, we won a premiership. I'm just happy about that, really."
Her goal on the half-time siren: "I actually didn't think I was going to get it. It just kind of floated through, so I was pretty chuffed."
On co-captain Erin Phillips going down with a knee injury: "She's a very big part of this team and the Crows as a whole. It obviously shocked everyone to start with, but at the end of the day, business is business and you just have to keep going. It's really disappointing for her, but she performed amazingly as usual."
Danielle Ponter
"Like I said early in the season, getting a game in round two was a big thing for me (so) to make it to the Grand Final and get the win was amazing.
"I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. It's a relatively short season with only seven rounds, so you feel like you're in season coming into this game, or that's how I felt anyway. It was just another game. I was lucky enough to get on the end of those kicks from the girls. Just very lucky to finish off their efforts from further up the field."
On the record crowd of 53,034: "I couldn't hear anything in particular, it was just noise. When I kicked those goals, I loved it, the crowd got up and about. It was the best feeling ever."
Sophie Li
"To have that many people out there watching and celebrating with us was incredible."
Playing against Carlton, her former team: "It was weird, they're such a good group of girls. To not be able to share something like that with them was a bit weird. But that's sport, I suppose. They're a lovely bunch."
"It's been so easy to slip into this team. 'Doc' (coach Matthew Clarke) is an incredible coach, it's been a seamless transition."
On the team singing happy birthday in the middle of the ground (she turned 31 on Sunday): "That was 'MJ' (Marijana Racjic). And I thank her, because she knows how much I love public attention … not. It was my worst nightmare, but it was amazing."
