Adelaide has defeated Fremantle by 37 points in a semi-final to set up a preliminary final date with arch rival Brisbane.
ADELAIDE has won through to its sixth preliminary final, comfortably accounting for Fremantle by 37 points in a semi-final at Norwood Oval on Saturday.
The Crows had far too much class across the park for the Dockers in the 7.7 (49) to 1.6 (12) result, the West Australians having done extraordinarily well to make a semi-final given the absence of stars Kiara Bowers, Ange Stannett and Aine Tighe.
There were plenty of nerves on show early – such Caitlin Gould’s opening set shot smothered on the mark – and in the early stanza, Fremantle was working overtime to unsettle Adelaide.
But the Dockers couldn’t find the middle of the goals themselves, and it took a lunging Chelsea Randall’s boot-studs to scrape home the opening major.
After an extended quarter-time break – the heat policy well and truly in place for the 35-degree conditions – it was Adelaide who flexed its mighty muscle.
Like they’ve done all year, the Crows locked the ball in their forward half, but finally, they were able to convert, piling on four goals to take a game-winning 29-point lead into half-time.
Acting Fremantle captain Hayley Miller spent most of the second term receiving treatment on a sore knee, but returned after half-time to play forward, while star recruit Gab Newton worked through some discomfort after landing heavily on her back in a first-term marking contest, picking up a corked hip along the way.
Dockers coach Lisa Webb confirmed post-match Miller’s issue was much more serious than appearance suggested, having played out of the goal-square amid a “significant” patella tendon injury.
On the rare occasions Fremantle was able to get the ball into attack, the forward structure was more often than not askew, struggling to hold their positions against the strong Adelaide backline, led by Zoe Prowse and Chelsea Biddell.
It was a well-rounded team performance from Adelaide, who had a number of players stand up at different moments, including the elusive Taylah Levy, a hard-running Maddi Newman and crucial link Chelsea Randall, while Ebony Marinoff found plenty of the footy.
Gabby O’Sullivan and Aisling McCarthy ran hard for the Dockers, while Emma O’Driscoll stood up well under enormous pressure in defence.
