Adelaide defeated Melbourne in the AFLW grand final by 13 points at Adelaide Oval, winningย their third premiership on the back of a dominant first half.

The Demons fought back after half time but a goal on the run with five minutes to play by Danielle Ponter put the result beyond doubt. The siren sounded with the Crows leading 4.5 (29) to 2.4 (16).

The first dynasty

Adelaide did it. The Crows are the overlords of AFL Womenโ€™s once again.

This chaotic season saw clubs slalom from match to match, as ducking the relentless chaos of COVID-19 was always going to be won by the strongest, most resilient and most adaptable side.

Before 16,712 fans at Adelaide Oval, the Crows outclassed Melbourne to prove they were all thisโ€ฆ and, of course, with two premierships already in the trophy cabinet at Adelaide Oval, they are so much more.

Matthew Clarke. Who would have believed that playing 118 games would not have been the greatest contribution he would make to the Adelaide Football Club? He enters the history books as the first AFLW coach to win two premierships.

His lieutenants who guided the way to premiership glory are a glorious line-up of footballing smarts and talent.

Those champions of champions Erin Phillips and Chelsea Randall continue to defy the white-anting of age. Anne Hatchard and Ebony Marinoff form the most dangerous one-two punch of any midfield. Sarah Allan, Marijana Rajcic and Chelsea Biddell are the highlight-killing defenders, as efficient, reliable and composed as the gears of a Rolex.

Additions like the crafty Eloise Jones, 2022 AFLW leading goal-kicker Ash Woodland and the contested ball pocket rocket Rachelle Martin have helped the Crows bend without breaking, adjusting to the collective determination of the Crowsโ€™ opponents to unpick and dismantle their game plan.ย 

The imminent entry of Port Adelaide into the competition is going to shift the ground under the feet of the Crows, who are the only club to have maintained a monopoly on its state (and, until the admission of Gold Coast in 2020, a second draft pool in the Northern Territory) for the leagueโ€™s six years. Whatever happens from herein, there is something that cannot be taken away from Adelaide: they has been the first dynasty club of the womenโ€™s league.

Clarkeโ€™s structure that strangled the Demons

Iโ€™m dousing the flames of praise for the contest, but here goes: the Crows should have had this one in the bag at half-time.

Adelaideโ€™s set-up behind the ball denied the Demons the time and space that they had used on the wider expanses of the MCG to defeat Brisbane in the preliminary final. In the first half, Melbourneโ€™s forward entry was shallow and easily repelled as the Demonsโ€™ ball carriers were harried by constant pressure.ย 

At half-time, Melbourne was only narrowly behind on the inside 50 count (14-11), but the stat more indicative of the state of the contest was this: the five starting forwards had combined for just 12 kicks with Tayla Harris and Shelley Scott registering none.

Captain Randall lined up against Alyssa Bannan and denied her the room that saw the 19-year old turn the preliminary final against Brisbane at the MCG (this was slightly undone by Caitlin Gould putting her brain on autopilot with an arcing kick across goal that gifted Bannan the only major to half-time for Melbourne).

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Tayla Harris copped the unenviable attention of Allan (and at time Biddell) and was systematically denied the opportunity to either lead into space or leap at the incoming ball. The sight of the beleaguered Demon standing third in a marking contest under hopeful but wasteful forward entry was enough to make coach Mick Stinear push her into the ruck. Harris weathered the storm of public criticism after last yearโ€™s trade period and had an outstanding season but her next challenge is to step up in finals football: her six matches have yielded three goals and an average of just under six disposals.ย 

Hatchardโ€™s day to rememberย 

Anne Hatchard was the runaway winner of the Best On Ground Award for her 26-disposal performance, netting 14 of a possible 15 votes from a judging panel that included her 2017 premiership coach Bec Goddard. Ebony Marinoff was the next best with six votes and Danielle Ponter received five.

The 24-year oldโ€™s transformation from fringe player to formidable midfielder with three All-Australian blazers is one of the great success stories of Adelaideโ€™s development under Clarke.

The bullocking Hatchard wills her presence onto matches with her power at the contest and endurance running, ably assisted by the similarly relentless Marinoff at her side in the centre square.ย 

Ponter produces her best performance

The memory of Adelaide forward Danielle Ponter as a precociously talented but not particularly resilient youngster is gone. Long gone.

To pinch a bit of mid-match poeticism by CODE's Daniel Cherny, the 22-year old niece of Michael Long and cousin of Cyril Rioli has grand final brilliance in her veins and she undoubtedly played the best game of her blossoming career at Adelaide Oval.

For four quarters she made an option and followed up at the contest with second and third efforts, kicking two goals and setting up another. Her composure and creativity in out-bodying Gabby Colvin to mark, play on and goal with five minutes to go in the final quarter sealed the game.ย 

Ponter also disrupted the Demonsโ€™ defensive set-up as she forced two-time All-Australian defender Libby Birch to stay accountable without respite. Birchโ€™s disposal is the bedrock of Melbourneโ€™s counter-attack and she looked panicked at Adelaide Oval under the pressure of Ponterโ€™s repeat efforts.

Locking up Lauren Pearce

Melbourneโ€™s two-time All-Australian ruck Lauren Pearce loomed as a key to Adelaide winning the contest in the centre of the ground. The brilliant Pearce is an instrumental part of Melbourneโ€™s machine as a fourth midfielder rather than a ruck, accumulating clearances and acting as a link in the chain when the Demons bring the ball forwards.ย 

To negate Pearceโ€™s tactic of grabbing the ball out of the ruck to generate quick kicks and catch opposition backlines on the hop, her grand final opponent Caitlin Gould initiated body contact at the last second of their one-on-ones.

Pearce was denied the room to grab and go and all of a sudden Melbourneโ€™s midfield battle โ€“ already impaired by the loss of Maddi Gay from early in the second quarter to late in the third with a knee injury โ€“ became that much harder. Despite the on-ball efforts of Lily Mithen all match and Daisy Pearce, Karen Paxman and the eventually returned Gay in the second half, the damage out of the middle had been done.

Demon disappointment all too familiar

For Mick Stinearโ€™s Melbourne, the Adelaide Crows have now become the roadblock barring that first premiership victory.ย 

Although the Demons were able to work their way back into the grand final after a dismal first half, the margin of 13 points nonetheless flattered the margin between the two sides. The premiership decider bore great similarity to the last two contests between Adelaide and Melbourne, in which the Crows suffocated the Demonsโ€™ attack to have the match under their control well before the final siren.

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While perennial midfield stalwarts Paxman and Pearce bore their way into the contest in Melbourneโ€™s second-half fightback, for too long their sideโ€™s best players were Sinead Goldrick and Gabby Colvin: defenders stemming the bleeding but unsupported by the movement forward upfield.ย 

Short of a disastrous trade and equalisation period, there is no doubt that Melbourne will again be one of the strongest sides in Victoria and the league come Augustโ€™s second instalment of the 2022 season.

The Demons managed to fight fire with fire in the pressure stakes in their preliminary final but were overwhelmed by Adelaide in the first half of the grand final. The difference between Melbourne being a grand final side and a premiership side rests in how well they can beef up this deficiency.

Adelaide: 1.1, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5. 29
Melbourne :0.0, 1.1, 2.2, 2.4. 16

Best:

  • (Adel) Hatchard, Ponter, Marinoff, Allan, Gould, Martin, Randall.
  • (Melb) Colvin, Paxman, Goldrick, Mithen, Hore, D Pearce.

Goals:

  • (Adel) Ponter 2, Hewett, Phillips.
  • (Melb) Bannan, Hore.