5:05pm AEST
Ikon Park, Melbourne

Recent Form

Both sides are coming into this match off Round 1 wins that were big for very different reasons.

Richmond come into this week’s encounter off a confidence boosting one goal win over Brisbane, while Adelaide are coming in off the back off a 30 point win over crosstown rivals Port Adelaide.

History

This is only the second time in their history that these two sides have met.

The first time around was back in Round 2 of Season 7, where out at Punt Road it was the Crows who prevailed by nine points after they had to come from behind against an impressive Richmond side to take the win.

Key Stat Areas

This is perhaps correlated to their winning margins from last weekend and the strength of their opponents, but Adelaide won the stats categories they won by significantly more than Richmond did. So, perhaps there is not enough data to paint a full picture of where tonight’s match may be won.

Regardless, last week’s stats do show that Adelaide are much more of a handballing side than Richmond are, so that will be an area that Richmond will want to target tonight.

Adelaide also did significantly better when it came to uncontested possessions last week than Richmond did, and with the runners particularly through the midfield that Adelaide has, this is an area that Richmond cannot afford to ignore.

Key Match Ups

Jess Hosking vs Niamh Kelly

Kelly was one of Adelaide’s best last week, and her speed and run was such an asset to the Crows in their Showdown win.

If Richmond want any chance of winning tonight, they are going to have to shut her down, with Hosking’s willingness to throw herself into the contest a handy asset.

Eilish Sheerin vs Yvonne Bonner

Bonner was another one of Adelaide’s best last week and her link up work with Kelly and her scoring prowess were both handy assets.

Richmond need someone who is quick enough to keep up with her but also strong enough to take her on in a contest, and someone who ticks both those boxes is Sheerin. Sheerin is also someone who has taken on plenty of tough challenges in her short AFLW career, so will not be afraid to take on a role with such significance.

Gabrielle Seymour vs Jess Allan

Every foray forward starts in the ruck, and with both sides having such similar rucks tonight’s battle is sure to be an enticing one. Both Seymour and Allen are very agile rucks who have a decent leap on them, so should match up very evenly.