Adelaide's AFLW side travelled to Sydney for a Round Four clash against GWS last weekend.

Ever wondered what goes on behind-the-scenes during an away trip? Read below to find out.

Friday, August 29 - en route to Sydney

8am – Players start arriving at Adelaide Airport, and drop their luggage at Virgin check in. It’s been a wintry start to the morning, with the Adelaide metropolitan area hammered by tornado-like winds and heavy rain. Across the city, there are power outages and trees down, but remarkably the airport is relatively calm.

8.30am – Coach Matthew Clarke arrives. He holds a press conference where he addresses questions about team selection, injured players and how the side will be looking to beat Greater Western Sydney. He arrives with only a backpack, no check-in luggage; he travels light. Meanwhile players start gathering in the Virgin Lounge ahead of the flight.

9am – The flight to Sydney is delayed slightly. There’s a travelling party of about 33 (plus 12 who will travel the next day), which includes players, coaches, physios and some administrative staff. Players sit in groups; some are chatting, some discuss tactics for the weekend with assistant coaches, others play a competitive game of Uno (Sarah Goodwin seems to be on a winning streak). The Belgian waffles go down a treat with the coaching staff. 

10.20am – Flight departs Adelaide. A delight on the flight is little Tomi Randall – son of Chelsea and MJ – who is also travelling for the weekend and entertains the players as he wanders supervised up and down the aisle during the flight.

12pm – Arrive at Sydney airport, where the players collect their luggage and head to the team bus on route to training. One of the team’s trainers, Chris Maslen, is also in charge of the equipment that heads over on an away game. On arrival in Sydney, he collects a “property truck” that is then filled with all this equipment. Think large bags filled with training footballs (all deflated), cargo boxes of guernseys, and medical supplies, the media banner for post-match press conferences, as well as signs that will be hung around the away changerooms to give a sense of “home”.

1pm – Team bus arrives at Henson Park, which is in Marrickville, an inner western Sydney suburb and the venue for Saturday’s clash against the Giants. The venue is currently under renovation, with large parts of the ground unable to be accessed, so temporary transportable changerooms have been set up. 

1.10pm – Training commences. Known as a Captain’s Run, it’s a short, light training session held the day before a game. The team splits into two and plays a handball/goal-kicking game, before undertaking a few run throughs in team strategy and positioning.

2pm – Captain’s Run concludes, and the players and staff are given lunch, which consists of gourmet sandwiches from Sydney institution South Dowling Sandwiches – delish! A fan also stops by and says hello to the team. She has brought with her, her Italian greyhound Larry (Lorenzo), whom she says is a huge Crows fan and whenever the Crows are playing on TV, the cute little pup will stop and stare. A couple of the players stop for photos with him.

2.15pm – Team meeting time. Coach Matthew “Doc” Clarke gathers everyone to give his final thoughts on tactics. He also makes special mention of forward Danielle Ponter, who will be celebrating her 75^th AFLW game against the Giants. Doc plays a highlights package of DP’s finest on-field moments. The team then splits into their lines (forwards, midfielders, defenders) for more specialised opposition analysis.

2.45pm – It’s time to jump back on the team bus and head to the hotel. There is seating etiquette on the bus: co-captains Ebony Marinoff and Sarah Allan will typically sit in the front rows of the seats. But with Allan remaining in Adelaide with a slight quad strain, Stevie-Lee Thompson takes her spot. Anne Hatchard sits in behind Ebony. The admin staff typically take up the next few rows, with the remaining players heading toward the back of the bus. 

3pm – Check-in time at the hotel: Pullman Sydney Olympic Park and a few hours of free-time lie ahead. A dozen or so players, however, head to a nearby gym for a weights and recovery session.

5.30pm – A few of the admin and coaching staff head out of a pre-dinner ice-cream catch-up. 

6.30pm – Team dinner commences inside a special breakout area set up by the hotel. There are four large tables, with a big screen playing sport, a drinks fridge filled with waters and sports drinks and a physio table set up towards the back of the room for players to have treatments and pre-game massages. The food is set out on bain-maries outside the room; tonight’s its steamed vegetables, roasted potatoes, salads, spaghetti bolognaise, lasagne and butter chicken with rice. Soon, the AFLW match between Richmond and Essendon is playing on the big screen.

7pm – Ruck Jess Allan hasn’t been feeling well this week and has been quarantined from the players on doctor’s orders. So, she flies in separately and arrives at the team hotel during dinner. Also on doctor’s orders, she eats dinner separately from the players in a space just outside the team room. You can never be too careful! 

8pm – Assistant coaches Jack Madgen and Kieran Strachan arrive at the team hotel. They, too, have flown in separated. Typically, the duo would fly in on the “day of game”, but this would require a 4am alarm on Saturday and because they both play for Adelaide in the SANFL and have a big final to play on the Sunday, the decision is made to fly them in to join the team on the Friday night to allow them a good sleep on Friday night.

9pm – From about 9pm, players and staff start to head to bed. 

Saturday, August 30 - Game day

5.15am – About a dozen staff arrive at Adelaide Airport for their flight to Sydney. These staff include the trainers who run the water during game, the team’s dietician, the game integrity officer and AFLW club doctor. Their flight departs at 6am.

7.30am – Breakfast in Sydney is served. Think bacon and eggs, fruit, yoghurt, cereals and pancakes with maple syrup.

8.20am – The additional staff arrive in Sydney and load into a minibus to drive straight out to Henson Park via a café for breakfast after a 4am start.

10.30am – The team checks out of the Pullman and loads their luggage onto the team bus. But there’s an issue: Ebony Marinoff – who always travels with her pillow – cannot find it. She is sure she left it near her luggage, but it’s disappeared. All she has is her pillowslip.

10.40am – The bus heads to Henson Park. Today is Niamh Kelly’s 30^th birthday and in honour of that, Ebony Marinoff jumps on the bus’s PA system and leads a rousing rendition of “Happy birthday”. 

11am – The additional staff have arrived at Henson Park and begin setting up for the game: Player name plates are placed above hooks where the players will hang their bags and club hoodies. They set up physio tables and an area where players will have their necessary strappings applied. Food and drinks are laid out on tables, guernseys are hanging ready for the players.

11.15am – The players arrive. Some head straight out onto the Henson Park grass. Some head to the changerooms for strapping or last minute rub-downs. Everyone has their own individual pre-game routines.

12.20 – Warm-up time on the ground. Strength and conditioning coach Jordan Sellar guides the team through their official warm-up.

12.45 – Players are now back in the changerooms, standing in a circle holding their guernseys. Eloise Jones gives a special speech in honour of Ponter’s 75^th milestone game, before the players all put their playing guernseys on at the same time (today the side is wearing the special 2025 Indigenous jumper co-designed by former player Graham Johncock). There is a quick handball drill in the rooms.

12.54pm – Co-captain Ebony Marinoff leads the team out onto the oval for the game.

1pm – Teams warm-up before exchanging gifts in honour of Indigenous Round. There’s a very special Welcome to Country ceremony before the coin toss. 

1.05pm – Game starts.

2.20pm – Game concludes. Kuwarna (Crows) have won by 32 points, in a match where scoring was hampered by blustery conditions. The team is largely injury-free after the game, except Anne Hatchard suffered a split lip in the opening term, which required two stitches, but she played on.

2.45pm – Matthew Clarke gathers the team together and gives his initial post-match appraisal, before heading back out onto the field to hold his official post-game press conference. Meanwhile, the players eat their post-game meals (it’s hamburgers today), shower, change and those who need to strap ice onto tired and bruised muscles do so. Staff madly pack all the property back into the truck.

4pm – The bus departs Henson Park for Sydney Airport. Incredibly, Ebony Marinoff’s pillow has turned up! 

4.30pm – Everyone arrives at the airport and checks into the Virgin Lounge. In honour of Niamh Kelly’s birthday, a cake is presented and another round of “Happy Birthday” rings out across the lounge. The cake is cut and shared amongst everyone. Matthew Clarke and his assistant coaches all have their laptops out, already beginning to review game footage – what went right? What can be improved?

6.30pm – The flight out is delayed by about an hour and finally leaves for Adelaide.

8.15pm – Flights lands safely back in Adelaide.