Midfield guns rule as Crows edge Dockers

Adelaide coach Matthew Clarke has heaped praise on his two midfield guns after Anne Hatchard and Ebony Marinoff produced heroic efforts to lift their side to a nine-point AFLW win over Fremantle.

Hatchard tallied 31 disposals and Marinoff racked up 30 touches in the 3.7 (25) to 2.4 (16) win on Saturday, with Fremantle restricted to just four inside 50s in the second half.

The win kept Adelaide at the top of the ladder with a 7-1 record, while Fremantle slipped to 6-2.

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The Crows booted a wasteful 0.5 and two out-on-the-full in the third term, meaning they turned for home down by two points and kicking against the breeze.

But Hatchard produced a scintillating burst early in the final quarter, tallying nine possessions within the space of a few minutes to set up two match-winning goals.

"Both girls had really strong games," Clarke said of Hatchard and Marinoff.

"Both are having outstanding seasons. They lead the way in terms of that work rate. They're phenomenal workers on the track, and that leads to their ability to execute on game day.

"What we spoke about at three-quarter time was just to be really clear that we'd actually just played a really strong quarter, and not to be rattled by the scoreboard."

Crows forward Danielle Ponter was also damaging with two goals from 20 disposals.

Stephanie Cain collected a team-high 22 possessions for Fremantle, with Airlie Runnalls tallying 20 disposals and a goal.

Dockers captain Hayley Miller was restricted to 10 possessions and a goal in her quietest display of the season.

"I think she's probably taken on a little too much workload herself in Kiara Bowers' absence," Dockers coach Trent Cooper said of Miller.

"Maybe that caught up