Adelaide won the inaugural AFLW premiership in 2017, but if you entered that exact side into the 2022 season how would they perform?
Star Crow Ebony Marinoff, who played in the flag and has been a key part of the side across the journey, doesn’t know whether they would even win a game.
Such is the development and improvement of the league in just five years.
Marinoff gave her thoughts on how quickly the standard of the league is improving on SEN SA Drive on Tuesday.
“We actually spoke about that the other night. If it was our first team in 2017, we wouldn’t win a game (in 2021) going off the skills we had in 2017,” the star midfielder said.
“The younger girls especially through the Victorian pathways, they’re incredible. The 20-year-olds’ skillsets now in the AFLW is enormous and they’re just going to keep getting better and better.
“I’m only 23, but I need to keep pushing myself to my limits because these young spring chickens keep coming in and raising the standards.
“The expectations every year goes up a notch. Everyone across the country is getting better so we need to get better too.
“Every year we get more time at the club in terms of hours and that allows us to get better.”
Adelaide has contested every second premiership since the competition’s inception, winning in 2017 and 2019, but losing to Brisbane in 2021.
Marinoff added that the loss has lit a fire under the group.
“It was certainly an opportunity lost. I’m sitting here at the footy club and looking at the 2019 premiership photo and on my right is the 2017 cup. It hurts, it really does,” the three-time All-Australian said.
“Most of the girls are still here and we’ve injected some youth and they’ve brought in a boost of energy and the list is hungrier than ever for redemption.
“You can’t really dwell on it. Hopefully it’s a situation we never put ourselves in again. We had our worst day on the most important day.”
Marinoff opted to re-sign with Adelaide over the off-season, but admits she weighed up offers from Victorian clubs, particularly St Kilda.
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“Probably the most serious was St Kilda, that was the one everyone found out about, but that was the one that was most taken seriously,” she said.
“We’ve had girls that have come back to the footy club having moved on to other clubs and they always speak highly of our program compared to others.
“I’ve been inside the four walls for five years, so it’s an incredible program. It’s one I wouldn’t have wanted to leave.
“I guess the Melbourne lifestyle as well as football, but Adelaide’s been home forever and I love it.
“I’ve signed on for two years and a few other girls have too so hopefully we can keep the band together when Port comes in.”
Adelaide’s dominance across the last five years has come in part because of their monopoly on South Australian talent, something that will change when Port Adelaide enters the competition in 2023.