A CONGRATULTORY phone call from Adelaide captain Taylor Walker welcomed West Australia star Chelsea Randall to the Crows.
But Randall's fellow Sandgroper and inaugural marquee signing for next year's national women's league, Kellie Gibson, had to initially listen to Walker's message on her voicemail before catching up with him.
The Crows signaled their intent to be a serious challenger for the 2017 women's premiership with the acquisition of the two exciting forwards.
The eight women’s clubs announced their marquee signings at simultaneous events in Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane on Wednesday.
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Randall, 25, has captained Western Australia and is a three-time All Australian who was pick No.3 in the 2013 women's draft.
Twenty-year-old Gibson is a cross-code star, having won a gold medal at the 2014 Youth Olympics in rugby 7s.
Randall said it wasn't until she received a call from Walker on Tuesday night that the dream of joining the Crows became a reality.
"For him to call and congratulate us on this achievement was really special,'' Randall said.
"That's when it started to kick in. I'm just really excited to be out there and hopefully we can play some good footy and put on a show for everyone.
"He was really excited for us and chuffed the Crows have a women's team coming. It's history in the making.''
Gibson missed Walker's initial call at 9.30pm Tuesday and got a surprise when she checked her voicemail.
"I didn't answer it straight away. He left me a voice message, it was like, 'Oh my god, Tex Walker just called me,'' Gibson said.
"I had a chat to him and he was very supportive.
"He was just thrilled to have us on board and he's looking forward to working with us.
"It was really nice to have him welcome us to the club.''
Randall said the team's goals included raising the profile of the women’s game and lifting the premiership cup.
"I will be working with Crows as well, so hopefully in that community aspect we will be pushing the growth of female football across the board,'' Randall said.
"Hopefully we can build depth in grassroots football.
"We like to put on a good show of football, but at the end of the day, everyone wants to win and we want to bring home that cup.''
The Crows are yet to appoint a coach for their women's team. Head of football David Noble hoped to make an announcement in the next few weeks.
"It's a pretty important role, so we'll go through a detailed process with that,'' Noble said.
"Then we'll start to work out where the rest of the structure is put in place.''
