Massive AFLW grand final marred by injury heartbreak

The Adelaide Crows made their way to a barnstorming AFLW grand final win, but the celebrations will be dampened by a serious knee injury to Erin Phillips.

Phillips was chasing her Carlton opponent in the third quarter when she collapsed to the ground, holding her knee.

The capacity crowd was hushed as the game was halted, as club medicos called for a stretcher to take Phillips from the ground.

As she was driven from the ground, the massive crowd gave Phillips a standing ovation, as the Crows star fought tears in a powerful, emotional moment.

Players from Adelaide and Carlton approached the stretcher as Phillips left the ground.

The Crows were undeterred despite losing their star player and captain.

Too good for Carlton from start to finish, Adelaide roared to a 10.3 (63) to 2.6 (18) victory, their second AFLW premiership.

Speaking after the game, Phillips confirmed Crows fans’ worst fears.

“It’s an ACL, something I’ve done before on my other leg – unfortunately that’s just sport, risk you take when you play contact sport,” she said.

“We’ll get better and hopefully be back next season.

“I’d like (to play on), it’s a tough rehab, but i’ll take every opportunity I can to get back on this field.”

Phillips was named best-on-ground, after racking up 18 possessions and two goals.

She was assisted on to the stage by Chelsea Randall and Ebony Marinoff.

Unfortunately for the Crows, Phillips was not the only serious injury concern, with forward Chloe Scheer also appearing to suffer a serious knee injury earlier in the game.

Not long after taking a sensational climbing mark, Scheer also went down.

Carlton had a scare of their own, with Tayla Harris being helped from the field after knocking knees with a teammate.

Fortunately for Blues fans, Harris returned to the field some time later.

Incredible response to final

Upper sections of the Adelaide Oval had to be opened on short notice as an all-time record crowd for the AFLW turned up for the grand final.

The AFL had been anticipating roughly 25,000 for the Sunday decider, but were left on the back foot as more than twice the projected amount of fans showed up.

The final official crowd figure was 53,034, reported late in the fourth quarter of the grand final.

The massive crowd left fans of the game stunned.