WITH two premierships from three Grand Final appearances in five seasons, Adelaide is indisputably the strongest club in NAB AFLW history.

And far from resting on their significant achievements to date, the undefeated Crows look to have taken their dominance to another level in 2022.

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Their ability to grow year-on-year with very few list changes, their consistency within games and the relentless wearing-down of their opponents have all contributed to that improvement. But there's still one part of the Crows' game that can easily get better, and that's a scary thought for their flag rivals.  

A settled list

Of the eight inaugural sides, Adelaide has used the fewest players across the last six years. 55 Crows have pulled on the guernsey for an AFLW match, compared to 68 at Fremantle and 70 at each of Carlton and Greater Western Sydney.

Having a reliable, settled list has allowed the Crows to develop players both individually and as a core group – arguably one of the biggest challenges of AFLW given short contracts, expansion, and the part time nature of the competition.

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They have only lost nine players to opposition clubs in six years and currently there are just four ex-Crows on opposition lists: Chloe Scheer, Jess Allan, Kellie Gibson, and Sarah Perkins. Twelve inaugural Crows are still listed in 2022 (although four of them are inactive), which is the most of any foundation side.

That group of Sarah Allan, Dayna Cox, Angela Foley, Anne Hatchard, Ebony Marinoff, Rhiannon Metcalfe, Justine Mules, Erin Phillips, Chelsea Randall, Jess Sedunary, Stevie-Lee Thompson and Deni Varnhagen have combined for 22 premiership medallions, 14 AFLW All-Australian selections and six club best and fairests.

The Chelsea Randall factor

Given the calibre of this inaugural group, it was understandable that Adelaide would fall into the habit of relying heavily on a handful of players to lift the group. This was never more evident than when comparing the Crows' performances with and without leader Chelsea Randall between 2017 and 2021.

Adelaide won just 33.3 per cent of its games without Randall in that time, compared to 76 per cent of its games played with Randall. This year, the side has been without its captain for two matches, and while Randall remains a star of the competition, her absence hasn't been felt nearly as keenly.

Siren-to-siren consistency

The Crows are arguably the only regular four-quarter team in the AFLW this year. The side is  finding consistency throughout games both offensively and defensively – even without important utility Randall.

According to stats provided by Champion Data, the Crows were held goalless in 13.9 per cent of quarters during their dominant, premiership-winning 2019 season, while holding their opponents goalless in 44.4 per cent. This year, that has been tightened up even further: Adelaide is goalless in just 10 per cent of its quarters, and holding opponents goalless in 65 per cent. Unsurprisingly, the Crows are conceding just 15 points per game this year—the fewest in the competition.

CROWS' GOALLESS QUARTERS

In addition, Adelaide's offence is a regular slow burn, hitting the scoreboard each quarter, but its opponents are really struggling to score early. Just 30.7 per cent of opposition scoring has come in the first half of games, meaning they have less time to haul in the Crows' lead and more pressure to actually hit the scoreboard.

The territory game

Importantly, much of this defence is being done high up the ground, intercepting and winning the ball before opponents have a chance to go inside 50 and head toward goal. The defensive group of Sarah Allan, Marijana Rajcic, Chelsea Biddell, Najwa Allen and Nikki Gore is experienced and well drilled, allowing them to sit high up the ground and make the ground small, trapping the ball in the forward half for extended periods.

The Crows average the most intercepts and disposals in the competition this year, and thanks to their neat skills, they are going at 57.7 per cent by foot. This has allowed them to spend nearly half of each game in possession of the ball.

Essentially, Adelaide makes it very easy for opponents to give up the ball to them, and very hard to win it back.

In 2022, the only area in which the Crows have fallen away is their accuracy at goal, kicking a major from just 35.4 per cent of their shots at goal. Despite this, they are still averaging more than 40 points a game – ranked third in the competition – which is a warning sign to opposition sides. Should Adelaide clean up those shots on goal, they will become even harder to beat.

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