ADELAIDE may be reigning NAB AFL Women's premiers, but according to Champion Data's AFLW Prospectus, only six of the remaining 21 Crows who played last season are rated "elite" or "above average".
A staggering 11 Crows are ranked "below average" or "poor", the highest tally of any club.
It shows the big influence Adelaide's top players – competition best and fairest Erin Phillips, co-captain Chelsea Randall, spearhead Sarah Perkins and NAB AFLW Rising Star Ebony Marinoff – had on each game, and possibly gives an insight into how to defeat the Crows in the future.
If a side can hold two or three of that star quartet, it will go a long way to winning.
Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs lead the way in the elite category, with five apiece.
The elite Demons are midfield duo of Daisy Pearce and Karen Paxman, star defender Melissa Hickey, ruck Lauren Pearce and defender Meg Downie, who played just two matches before suffering the double blow of concussion and a torn hamstring in round three.
It's a similar elite breakdown at the Bulldogs. Midfield pair Emma Kearney and Ellie Blackburn feature in the top category, alongside key defender Hannah Scott, ruck Tiarna Ernst and captain Katie Brennan, who also played just two matches due to an ankle injury.
At the other end of the table, last season's wooden spooner Greater Western Sydney does not have a single player rated elite. But the Giants do have seven players – Jess Dal Pos, Emma Swanson, Nicola Barr, Rebecca Beeson, skipper Amanda Farrugia, Renee Tomkins and recruit Alicia Eva – rated above average.
CHAMPION DATA'S NAB AFLW ELITE
Adelaide: Sarah Perkins, Erin Phillips
Brisbane Lions: Sabrina Frederick-Traub, Jess Wuetschner
Carlton: Lauren Arnell, Brianna Davey
Collingwood: Jess Duffin
Fremantle: Kara Donnellan, Alex Williams
Greater Western Sydney: nil
Melbourne: Meg Downie, Melissa Hickey, Karen Paxman, Daisy Pearce, Lauren Pearce
Western Bulldogs: Ellie Blackburn, Katie Brennan, Tiarna Ernst, Emma Kearney, Hannah Scott
Elite players are those ranked in the top 10 per cent in overall statistical analysis.
