TWO-TIME Olympic basketballer Erin Phillips has declared herself ready to go for Adelaide's season opener in the inaugural NAB AFL Women's competition.
But the Crows will be without another of their cross-code stars, with soccer defender Jenna McCormick missing Saturday's clash with Greater Western Sydney to chase championship glory in the W-League.
McCormick's Canberra United finished on top of the table and will host Melbourne City in a semi-final at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.
The Giants will also be affected, with Matildas international and Canberra defender Ellie Brush also involved in the crucial game.
Crows co-captain Phillips said she couldn't wait to take on the Giants at Thebarton Oval.
Phillips missed the club's pre-season game with Fremantle in Darwin earlier this month with a quad injury.
"It was just a bit of a kicking injury, I didn't know you could get those," Phillips said.
"My quad was in a little bit of shock, so I was just over cautious and made sure I was right for round one.
"My brother-in-law (Hawthorn star Shaun Burgoyne) told me after my first training when I kicked about 300 times that for the first training session don't kick too much, maybe about 20-40 times.
"It was too late."
Phillips will be patrolling the forward line, using her ability to read the play as she has done during her decorated basketball career as a champion point guard to her advantage.
"I'm just going to go out there and play hard," she said.
"Hopefully I kick a goal or two, lay a few tackles and at the end of the day hopefully we get a win."
The Crows are basing their style of play around quick ball movement and rapid-fire possession.
"I'm a big fan of going with speed so you will see that this weekend," Crows women's coach Bec Goddard said.
"We held match committee this morning, and we hope the team we've selected is one of the fastest you'll see going around.
"We think our transition from defence to attack will be extremely fast.
"How will it be from attack to defence?
"That's what we've been working on since the Freo game, honing on a few elements that we saw in that game.
"The whole definition of this competition when it was set up was to make it as high scoring as you possibly can and make it open, because that's entertaining and that's what people want to see.
"I expect teams will attack with some flair and defence will be done when it's done."
The Crows v Giants game will be shown live across the country on Fox Footy, while Channel Seven will also broadcast the game in South Australia.
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