Two keys to the grand final: Brisbane’s goalkicking star Dakota Davidson (left) and Adelaide ball magnet Ebony Marinoff.
ADELAIDE v BRISBANE, Saturday 1.30pm local time
On coronation day at Adelaide Oval, with the crown jewels on the line, there could be no better contest than this inaugural 2017 grand final rematch.
Between them, Adelaide and Brisbane have played in every AFLW decider. Adelaide is the decorated two-time premier (2017 and 2019), while the Lions are the valiant two-time runners-up (2017 and 2018) who lost each of their grand finals by one straight kick.
In the last five Adelaide-Brisbane matches, neither side has won by more than 13 points, with two games decided by a goal or less.
Round 4 this year was yet another Lions-Crows arm wrestle. One week after kicking just one goal in a humiliating home loss to the Dockers, the Crows ambushed the Lions on their home ground in the first term, getting repeat forward entries and keeping Brisbane scoreless — but not landing a knockout blow.
The Lions, who had previously blown out bottom-feeding sides, fought back all match and — despite a few wayward set shots, assorted unkind bounces and spilled marks — came painstakingly close to levelling the scores.
Remarkably, the Crows kicked crucial goals on or near the half-time and three-quarter time sirens, to widen their lead. But even with one minute left in the match, Brisbane was within a kick. There were compelling individual battles all over the ground then, but this time around, Adelaide’s captain Chelsea Randall and Brisbane’s Kate Lutkins won’t be in the goal square in Adelaide’s forward 50, reprising theirs.
Lutkins will play, but the concussion Randall suffered in her side’s preliminary final victory rules her out. Stalwart defender Angela Foley will assume the captaincy in Randall’s stead.
This grand final’s most intriguing match-up, though, will be between Lions’ All-Australian midfielder Cathy Svarc and whichever dangerous Adelaide player that Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich sends her to.
In Round 4, Svarc tagged Adelaide superstar Erin Phillips, who quickly dragged Svarc forward from the centre square and kicked a bag of four goals. But with Adelaide midfielder Ebony Marinoff in scalding form in last week’s preliminary final — tying teammate Anne Hatchard’s all-time record of 35 possessions (18 of which were contested) and also laying 13 tackles — Svarc likely goes to her or Hatchard, who in the same match had 27 touches and kicked a goal.
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As it did in Round four, Adelaide’s backline must again stifle Brisbane’s dangerous forwards — Dakota Davidson (16 goals this season) being chief among them. Davidson’s foil and tall-marking target Jesse Wardlaw started the season on fire, kicking five goals across Rounds 2 and 3, but has since gone ice cold in front of the sticks, kicking only one more until this week.
The Lions’ dynamic smalls, Greta Bodey and Courtney Hodder, and the rejuvenated Jess Wuestchner all have stepped up, booting nine, seven, and four goals respectively.
Down back, Adelaide has the more prominent names, with Sarah Allan and Stevie-Lee Thompson, and through the guts, the tackling sister tandem Hannah Button and Rachelle Martin all strongly contribute, but Brisbane has an equal number of All-Australian players (four), including ball winner Sophie Conway. Midfielder Ally Anderson has been in excellent form and lately, Orla O’Dwyer’s run off half back makes it appear as if she’s got a jet-pack strapped to the back of her jumper.
Adelaide loves the contested game style and effectively moves the ball with possession chains, while Brisbane goes the uncontested kicking route. Brisbane must lower its eyes and not constantly blaze away as it did in Round 4, after the Crows played the match on their terms.
Brisbane will, in this grand final — as it has all season — quickly and successfully adjust. In Round 5, after making football’s longest road trip, the Lions ended Fremantle’s record-breaking 12-game winning streak. In Round 7, after Queensland unexpectedly enacted COVID-19 protocols, the Lions coolly flew to Victoria on the morning of their match against Collingwood and by late afternoon, had taken down the then-unbeaten Magpies.
The Lions not only are talented, confident, and unflappable but also, after falling just short in two previous grand finals, ravenous. Brisbane will enter as underdog, but will emerge holding the ultimate prize.
GIL TIPS: BRISBANE
