AFLW 2021 AFLW Grand Final: Adelaide Crows vs Brisbane Lions - Saturday 17th April, 1.30pm ACST @ Adelaide Oval

Winner and margin:

  • Adelaide, 30+

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Brisbane, 15-29 points

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Brisbane, 30+

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .

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2021 AFL Women's Grand Final
Adelaide (1st) v Brisbane (2nd)
Date: Saturday, 17 April 2021
Time: 1.30pm ACST / 2.00pm AEST
Venue: Adelaide Oval

Broadcast live-and-free on the Seven Network
Streamed live-and-free on the AFL Women's Official App, womens.afl, AFL Live Official App and AFL.com.au
Also available on FoxFooty, Kayo and the Telstra TV AFLW App


TEAMS

ADELAIDE

B:
A.Foley - C 3 M.Rajcic 32
HB: N.Allen 8 S.Allan 39 S.Thompson 14
C: D.Varnhagen 9 E.Marinoff 10 E.Jones 2
HF: R.Martin 5 D.Ponter 15 A.Woodland 24
F: C.Gould 1 C.Scheer 4
Foll: R.Metcalfe 11 E.Phillips 13 A.Hatchard 33
I/C: A.Considine 16 H.Button 6 J.Mules 23 T.Charlton 25 D.Cox 31

Emerg: L.Whiteley 22 C.Biddell 12

In: A.Considine
Out: C.Randall (concussion)


BRISBANE

B:
E.Zielke - C 8 S.Campbell 20
HB: K.Lutkins 13 N.Grider 10 B.Koenen 3
C: O.O'Dwyer 9 C.Svarc 25 S.Conway 12
HF: G.Bodey 15 D.Davidson 14 L.Arnell 16
F: J.Wardlaw 30 C.Hodder 21
Foll: T.Hickie 24 A.Anderson 18 E.Bates 1
I/C: I.Tahau 26 J.Ellenger 5 I.Dawes 17 J.Wuetschner 23 T.Smith 31

Emerg: M.Moloney 28 R.Lugg 11

No change


STATS

adebrgfstats1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Apr 29, 2008
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I'm super pumped for another Adelaide Oval grand final! Let's see if we can get through this one without two ACLs this time, though.

I'm going to be a bit self-indulgent and advertise my own thread. Back in 2019 in the lead up to the grand final, I wrote a series of profiles on the 21 players in the Crows team, detailing their backgrounds and pathways into AFLW. This year it looks like there will be 6 or 7 new players that weren't in that 2019 side, so I've revived the thread and am posting a profile for one of the new players each day. I've already written profiles on Caitlin Gould and Rachelle Martin, plus there are the 21 profiles from 2019 still there.

Each of these women have a super interesting story behind them, they're really worth reading. The amount that some of them have sacrificed to play footy at the highest level is crazy. I'll give an example from my favourite player, Chelsea Randall - back in 2014, long before AFLW was a thing, she moved to Esperance, and would drive a 14 hour round trip to play footy each weekend in Perth. Then, she took it one step further and moved to Newman in central WA, and drove a 26 hour round trip every weekend to play footy. Now that's passion for the game!

I'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback. I'll be posting a new profile every day this week. The thread is here:

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/aflw-crows-player-profiles.1214455/
 

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I might have more coming, but for now here's what I've got.

#SCORE #SCORE #SCORE
Adelaide were the highest-scoring team in the H&A season, averaging 50 points per game. Premiers are 3 for 3 on this stat. Compared to just about all other teams in the competition this year—most have been rather predictable with their reoccurring spurts and lapses—the Crows haven’t won or lost games via a single standout quarter (or even half) of footy. In their two losses, they’ve been bad from siren to siren, particularly in terms of composure against teams who have been able to amp up pressure on the ball-carrier real good and proper.

Brisbane were 3rd for points scored in the H&A season but, after a strong start against three expansion teams, their ability to kick scores of 40+ was greatly diminished against more established opposition. Fourth quarters were particularly brutal from thereon, scoring just 3.7 while conceding 7.12 over that six-week stretch, culminating in a R9 implosion against Melbourne which nearly cost them a top 2 spot (but, ultimately, it did not). The week off appeared to give them the freshener they needed, turning around a narrow 3QT deficit in the prelim with a couple majors and holding a desperate Collingwood at bay.


BEEN THERE, WON THAT
There will be up to nine Crows taking the field on Saturday who played in the club’s winning grand finals of 2017 and 2019: Angela Foley, Deni Varnhagen, Ebony Marinoff, Erin Phillips, Stevie-Lee Thompson, Justine Mules, Dayna Cox, Anne Hatchard and Sarah Allan.


BEEN THERE, GOT DONE
There will be up to seven Lions taking the field on Saturday who played in the club’s losing grand finals of 2017 and 2018: Emily Bates, Breanna Koenen, Emma Zielke, Kate Lutkins, Ally Anderson, Shannon Campbell and Jessica Wuetschner.


MISSING/INACTIVE
Unfortunately some good honest footballers won't be able to take the field for this momentous occasion. Brisbane’s Sharni Webb has sat out the year due to pregnancy, while Adelaide’s Nikki Gore sustained a season-ending injury in round 6.

But of course the big recent development, which was rather evident on Saturday even though it has just been officially confirmed earlier tonight, is that Crows captain Chelsea Randall won’t take part in this year’s grand final due to the 12-day concussion rule. Like the relationship between most AFLW teams and their best or second-best player, there is a jarring difference between Adelaide’s win-loss record when Randall plays and when she doesn’t.


SISTER ACLT
Rachelle Martin and Hannah Button are set to become the first pair of sisters to appear in the same, or any, AFLW grand final. Rachelle only belatedly made it on to Adelaide’s list in 2020 due to their smorgasbord of long-term injuries, including the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament which sidelined Hannah last year.


THE SHINY GOLDEN GOD
It might not be too much of a stretch to say the two most dominant individual performances in AFLW history to date occurred in the 2017 Grand Final and in Round 4 at Hickey Park this year. Both of them were by Erin Phillips against Brisbane, recording 26 kicks and 2 goals the first time around before managing 21 disposals and 4 snags the last time.

At this point she’d either have to be so far inside the Lions’ heads that they will basically just disintegrate at first sight… OR they will take some confidence from knowing that neither game was a blowout and perhaps just quelling the influence of Phillips a little bit will be enough to alter the course of history.


JUST A NUMBER
Adelaide in the preliminary final
Average age: 25y 291d
Youngest players: Teah Charlton (18y 350d)
Oldest players: Erin Phillips (35y 326d), Angela Foley (32y 118d), Marijana Rajcic (32y 26d)

Brisbane in the preliminary final
Average age: 24y 246d
Youngest players: Indy Tahau (18y 170d), Isabel Dawes (19y 334d)
Oldest players: Lauren Arnell (34y 26d), Emma Zielke (32y 356 d), Kate Lutkins (32y 314d)
 
Last edited:

Murray2503

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May 10, 2016
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A lot of discussion about Randall missing out on the gf. What's the bet that the AFL changes the bye to pre grand final to stop this sort of thing happening again.
 
The six biggest wildcards, or question marks, I have for Saturday.

2. Eloise Jones
Played across half-back when the two teams last met; had far too much time and space for a tidy-by-foot distributor. If she's ever played a better game, it might have been the 2019 grand final in a forward-line that walked all over Carlton's scatterbrained defence.

9. Orla O'Dwyer
Perhaps Svarc will be given the job to scrag Phillips all day again, but there has to be a backup plan.

10. Ebony Marinoff
Brisbane's biggest hope of winning will, as usual, come from sacrificing both wingers to feast on the opposition's prolific possession-getters blazing away under pressure.

12. Sophie Conway
Kicked the first goal of the 2018 grand final, then wound up as the centrepiece in a parade of squandered chances for 3.5 quarters. Has since moved on from the small forward role of her debut year, but probably hasn't quite shed those bad memories of how that season ended.

21. Courtney Hodder
Not yet the kind of player who can turn a drubbing into a close game, nevertheless she's one to look out for when a flash of brilliance is required, hence last week's disappearing act was all the more surprising.

24. Ashleigh Woodland
Hasn't taken a mark in her last two games but was plucking plenty in R4 and would have buried Brisbane early on if not for a wayward tally of 1.4 in front of goal.
 
Adelaide time: Thing happening
12.00pm: Adelaide Oval gates open
12.10pm: 2021 Colgate AFLW Grand Final Sprint heats
12:42pm: Welcome to Country
12:50pm: G Flip performance
1:11pm: Umpires enter
1:13pm: Brisbane Lions enter
1:16pm: Adelaide Crows enter
1:24pm: Delivery of the 2021 NAB AFL Women’s Premiership Cup
1:25pm: Australian national anthem performed by Chloe Bremner
1:27pm: Coin toss
1:30pm: 2021 NAB AFL Women’s Grand Final starts
¼ time: Rebel Rookie Challenge
½ time: 2021 Colgate AFLW Grand Final Sprint
¾ time: NAB Kick for Cash
¾ time: Chemist Warehouse Zorb Challenge
3:10pm (approx): Final siren
3:15pm (approx): Post-match presentation
3:40pm (approx): Post-match press conferences on arena
 

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Maybe I've missed something with Jess Hosking, nevertheless quite a good field. And I read that Jess Sedunary hurt her hamstring or something last night, so perhaps Munyard was a late call up.
 
Grand Final-specific portions of the AFL(W) Record in spoilers below. Whole thing available at:


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So we will indeed see an Irishwoman on each team as Considine comes in for Randall, no other changes.
 
Rachelle Martin and Hannah Button are set to become the first pair of sisters to appear in the same, or any, AFLW grand final. Rachelle only belatedly made it on to Adelaide’s list in 2020 due to their smorgasbord of long-term injuries, including the ruptured anterior cruciate ligament which sidelined Hannah last year.
Of course I forgot about the Hosking sisters... or, no, twins don't count, whatever!
 
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