Adelaide AFLW Co-Captain Sarah Allan has paid tribute to outgoing Senior Coach Matthew Clarke, following the team’s semi-final loss to Melbourne.

Clarke, a two-time premiership coach, announced before the start of the 2025 season that this would be his final year at the helm.

The Crows’ campaign came to an end with an 11-point loss to the Demons in the semi-final on Saturday, ending Clarke’s reign, which began at the start of the 2019 season.

Allan said she was proud to have been part of Clarke’s tenure as coach.

And when she was asked where the team would have been without Clarke for the past eight seasons, her answer was simple.

“I was thinking about it this morning, it has been six years (with Doc), so I’m definitely really sad to see him go,” Allan said.

“(With) less premierships potentially, so I’ll definitely take those.

“It was an exciting time when he came in for us and in his first year we won a premiership, so it was exciting to be able to do that with a new coach straight away.

“He’s helped set the group up in that way, and I think we are definitely well set-up for a new coach to come in.”

Allan said Clarke would leave a lasting legacy, after leading the Crows to two AFLW flags (2019, and 2022 Season Six), as well as seven finals appearances during his reign, having only missed in 2020.

But as an inaugural squad member, having a new coach come in wasn’t uncharted territory for the Co-Captain.

She was in the team when Clarke replaced inaugural coach Bec Goddard and Allan said she was looking forward to helping usher in a new era for the Club.

“When you have a new person come into the Club you want to make sure we still keep what we have going, you don’t want to have too much change,” Allan said.

“For the players who have been here from the start, we’ve experienced what it’s like having a new coach come in, so just to make sure we don’t lose too much of what we have, but also being open to what the new coach wants to bring as well.

“I think it’s about a mixture of both.”

Allan also reflected on the Crows’ 2025 season, following their finals exit.

Although disappointed with how the season ended, she was proud of the team’s fight in an up and down year.

“It’s a bit weird, the first few days after a loss in the finals, it takes a while to process everything,” Allan said.

“We are obviously really disappointed to not have gone further, but still proud of the group, we still fought until the end.

“There were some glimpses of us never giving up, even though it probably wasn’t our season altogether.

“We’ve got a lot of girls on our list who thrive on success and winning, so you always think you have a chance and it’s disappointing we didn’t get there this year.”