Adelaide’s AFLW side lined up in its first official hit-out for 2025 against an opposition, facing Port Adelaide in a match simulation on Saturday.

Despite a final-quarter fightback, the Crows fell to the Power 7.7 (49) to 6.11 (47) at Alberton Oval.

Danielle Ponter, Eloise Jones, Anne Hatchard, Chelsea Randall, India Rasheed, and Rachelle Martin were the Crows’ goal kickers.

Adelaide AFLW Senior Coach Matthew Clarke spoke to AFC Media post-game and delivered these five key takeaways.

Crows newcomers show positive signs

Adelaide fielded 27 players during the match simulation, with newcomers India Rasheed, Hannah Ewings, Grace Kelly, Christina Leuzzi, and Kayleigh Cronin lining up in the tri colours for the first time.

All played a considerable amount of minutes, despite Leuzzi, who only featured for a-quarter-and-a-half, with the 21-year-old set to line-up for Woodville-West Torrens in the SANFLW Grand Final on Sunday.

Crows AFLW Senior Coach Matthew Clarke said the five showed plenty of promise.

“We had five new players have their first competitive hit-out with the group and I thought all of them had a moment of impact,” Clarke said.

“Christina is playing (in the SANFLW) tomorrow but she had a couple of good moments, which was great.

“Kayleigh played almost exclusively key back and had some really good contest wins, Hannah Ewings played mostly forward and was also really good in her contest work.

“Grace had a really strong workrate, played on the wing and across half-back, and had good involvement.”

Rasheed, who was Adelaide’s first selection at the 2024 AFLW Draft, was strong inside-50, taking multiple marks and booting a goal.

“India got her hands on the ball, kicked one goal and had a number of shots on goal, and had a really good first hit-out at the level,” Clarke said.

“It was great for our new players to play that first game and all have an impact.”

Eloise Jones’ return 

Two-time Premiership star Eloise Jones returned for her first competitive game in 10 months, after rupturing her Achilles during the Crows’ Round Three game against Hawthorn last year.

After successfully ticking off her rehab goals, the leadership group member played three quarters in the match simulation against the Power and looked sharp inside-50 and around the contest.

Jones also got on the scoresheet, booting a goal.

“EJ continued on from what has been a really strong pre-season for her,” Clarke said.

“She looks like she’ll be fully fit and firing for the start of the season, which is really pleasing. 

“It’s great to see her back.”

Mixing it up in the midfield

Adelaide used the match simulation as an opportunity to trial various midfield rotations, with youngsters being rotated through with the more experienced players.

Clarke said he was impressed with how they handled the heat in the contest.

“We had an opportunity for some of our players who haven’t had huge minutes (in the midfield) over the past few years to play in there,” Clarke said.

“Brooke Boileau played some midfield minutes and had a strong impact, we also saw Sarah Goodwin spent some time through the midfield instead of across half-back.

“Once again, she looked comfortable there, so that was great.”

Fightback pleases coach

The match against fellow 2024 Preliminary Finalists was a tight tussle from the first bounce.

But the Crows found themselves down at each quarter break against crosstown rivals Port Adelaide, with the largest margin being 11 points.

Adelaide mounted a strong fightback in the last quarter and a Rachelle Martin goal helped the visitors cut the margin to two points, before the final siren won out in the end.

Clarke said he was pleased with the players’ willingness to continue fighting.

“Our ability to fight it out and to give ourselves an opportunity to win late in the game was pretty pleasing,” Clarke said.

“That’s in spite of a performance in which we probably weren’t completely happy throughout.”

Crows to continue fine tuning ahead of Round One

Adelaide can take many positives out of the match simulation against Port Adelaide, despite the score line, but there is also lots to work on before the opening round, according to Clarke.

The Crows were unable to match the Power’s pressure at times during the game, and that was set to be the main focus for Adelaide as it continues to finetune ahead of its 2025 campaign.

“We are probably not completely satisfied with the performance,” Clarke said.

“We felt like the pressure from Port Adelaide was at a higher level than ours, so credit to them that they were able to bring that, and we were probably a little off our best in that area.

“Today we played 27 players, but next week when we play Melbourne in a trial game, we’ll have to cut it back to 24.

“We’ll play a team closer to our Round One line-up, but equally we’ll still be trialling a few players and giving them an opportunity to show us what they’ve got.”

Adelaide takes on Melbourne in a practice match at Thomas Farms Oval (Unley Oval) on Sunday, August 3, at 11am.

The Crows will then open their 2025 AFLW season with a match against St Kilda at RSEA Park, Victoria, on Sunday, August 17, at 1.40pm (ACST).