The Crows’ final minor round clash against Melbourne at Unley Oval is shaping up to be their most important of the season thus far, with the team’s finals hopes still alive.

Adelaide is one of four sides that could snap up the last finals spot, and with the best percentage of the teams who are outside the eight, the Crows are well-placed in the race.

To earn a finals berth, however, Adelaide will need to beat the Demons, and have West Coast defeat Hawthorn, who currently sit in eighth spot - a win ahead of the Crows.

Senior Coach Ryan Davis spoke to the media on Thursday and gave his thoughts on whether a wildcard round should be introduced in the AFLW, the team’s head space heading into Sunday’s game, plans to cover Vice Captain Eloise Jones, and more.

Should a wildcard round be introduced in AFLW?

Wildcard finals have been introduced in the AFL competition, giving the top six teams on the ladder a week off, while the teams that finish seventh to 10th play each other.

Seventh plays 10th, while eighth faces ninth. The winners of the two wildcard games progress, while it’s season over for the losers.

As the Crows sit ninth, one win behind eighth-placed Hawthorn with one minor round remaining, Davis was asked about the prospect of introducing a Wildcard round.

“I think with the way that the fixture is done with the loading, I think it's probably perfect for it,” Davis said.

“It probably suits us more than the men's program, to be fair.”

Mindset heading into must-win Demons’ clash

Nothing will change with the Crows’ preparations this week, despite having plenty on the line according to Davis.

A win will give Adelaide a chance of earning a finals berth, but the Hawks also need to lose for this to happen.

Davis said the message to his team was to “control the controllables” and focus on the task at hand - beating Melbourne.

“(We) need West Coast to salute for us, but the way we prepare will be exactly the same as every other week,” Davis said.

“We're building towards a sustained game style and program, so yes, there's a fair bit on the line in terms of that Hawthorn v West Coast game, but the way we prepare and the way we play will be consistent with how we have throughout the year.

“It's a little bit funny, but we spoke to the playing group about it today, laid it out all on the table, so this is the state of affairs, and this is where it is. 

“From now on we can only control what we can control, so let's just focus on how we prepare for Melbourne and take care of our part of the bargain.”

What it’s going to take to beat the Demons

Melbourne has established itself as one of the premier teams of the competition this year, and is in third spot on the ladder with a 9-2 win-loss record.

Davis acknowledged it would be a challenge but believed his team had what it would take to overcome the Demons.

“They're really good across the ground to be fair to them, their handball chains and the power runners (they have) through the corridor are going to be very tough for us to stop,” Davis said.

“Behind the football, aerially they’re very strong, ahead of the ball,  they've got some fantastic players, so we'll have a handful across the ground.

“But we've got some plans in place for that side.

“I think the way we've been playing certainly over the last month has got some pretty good form for this game.”

Davis on covering the loss of Vice Captain Eloise Jones

Vice Captain Eloise Jones will miss the match against Melbourne after the AFLW Tribunal decided to uphold her one-game suspension for rough conduct.

Davis said Jones’ versatility would be missed but it created an opportunity for another to step up.

“She's a big loss, she's obviously a very talented player, and can play all parts of the ground,” Davis said.

“But like we saw last week, we had Niamh and also Maddie Newman come out of that side (due to injuries), and we had two players step up and play those roles.

“(It’s) next one up again mentality. We love EJ. She plays on the edge. We love that about her, but unfortunately, she has a week away. 

“But we're really, really comfortable with the players that are coming in and play that role.”

Reflecting on first season as Senior Coach

Davis is nearing the end of his first campaign as the Crows’ Senior Coach, having taken the reins from two-time premiership mentor Matthew Clarke 10 months ago.

The ex-West Coast and Gold Coast player said although potentially missing finals would be disappointing, there were plenty of positives to take out of this season.

“The way we've developed the playing group, the program, the scheduling, all those types of things (are positives),” Davis said.

“We've also had seven AFLW debutants this year, and we've had eight Crows play their first game this year as well.

“The youth that we've been able to bring in with a new game style, moulding a fair chunk of our players together and building that cohesion, I think it's been a very big winning season, regardless of the win-loss column.”

The Crows face the Demons at Unley Oval on Sunday at 2.35pm.

Be there to support the team, and get your tickets here. $15 for adults, while kids under-14 are free.