THIS weekend’s AFLW action begins tonight with a historic first ever encounter that has never had such high stakes attached to it.

Today at 7:45pm
Norwood Oval

How They Got Here

Adelaide finds itself in tonight’s semi-final after falling agonisingly short against Brisbane in last week’s qualifying final.

Sydney on the other hand came flying out of the blocks against Gold Coast last week to defeat the Suns and win its first ever final on its first attempt.

History

A little bit of history will be created tonight in Adelaide, as these teams have never met before in the AFL Women’s. And what a high stakes first meeting this will be, with a Preliminary Final spot on the line.

Key Stat Areas

Both of these sides tend to prefer to handball it more than kick it, so how that balances out will be interesting to see.

Both sides have also been doing far better in the uncontested possessions stats compared to the contested possessions.

Although Adelaide has been dominating the hitouts this season in comparison to the Swans, Sydney’s clearance figures are actually better, particularly around the stoppages.

Key Match Up/s

Ebony Marinoff vs Chloe Molloy

It does not take a genius to notice the importance of these two to their respective sides, so if one can keep the other quiet that will give their team a huge boost. There are also a number of similarities in both players’ games, so how that evens out will be interesting to see.

Niamh Kelly vs Lucy McEvoy

It is also no secret Kelly is having a bit of a break out season, and is one of a long list of players the Swans have to keep an eye on tonight. They may head to McEvoy and get her to play a tagging role on Kelly, just to keep the Irishwoman’s running and clearing influence at bay. And who knows, perhaps McEvoy can sneak a few goals in too?

Caitlin Gould vs Brenna Tarrant

Gould is another player who the Swans cannot afford to let off the handle tonight, so Tarrant is going to have a huge job in making sure that happens. She is going to always have to play in front to counter Gould’s marking and leading strengths.