Adelaide AFLW star Danielle Ponter has identified her aerobic capacity as a key component of her game that she wishes to improve heading into the 2025 season.
One of the most skilled players in the competition, the Tiwi and Marranunggu woman is hoping to have more of an impact in a hybrid forward-midfield role for the Crows this season.
The 25-year-old told the club building her fitness base is something she is continuing to focus on during the off-season.
"I've been lucky enough to play a few minutes in the midfield, but it is always that aerobic conditioning that is a challenge for me and I accept that," Ponter told afc.com.au.
"That's really something that I go away and I focus on in my own time, but I like to make it enjoyable as well, and I try to find different ways to make it enjoyable because otherwise it's extremely tough.
"We've got a lot of girls within our team that are pretty powerful in that space, like Anne Hatchard, she helps me with a lot of it.
"We've done a few cross-training sessions together and we help each other with those things which is really nice, and I love the bunch of girls that we have here."
For the first time in a couple of years Ponter opted against an off-season return to the Top End to play for her beloved junior club St Marys in the Northern Territory Football League.
Instead, the 25-year-old took the opportunity to travel to the United States and Fiji over Christmas to recharge the batteries ahead of the upcoming season.
"I spent a lot of my off season away from here, which was good, it was like a mental refresh for me," Ponter said.
"During that time, I was still exercising, running with my partner, and going to the gym whenever I could, and running was a good way to see the city we were in.
Ponter – who is the Crows' all-time leading goalkicker – enjoyed a solid 2024 season, highlighted by a career-best five goals against Hawthorn at Unley Oval.
The two-time premiership player returned to the club this week to begin optional training session ahead of the Crows' official pre-season start in May.
She will be hoping to recapture the form and consistency of her 2023 season, which saw her selected in the AFLW All-Australian team.
"We're back now and we've started doing skills and conditioning sessions on Monday and Thursday mornings at the club," she said.
"We caught up as a team on Tuesday night, that was our first real get together since our exit meetings, obviously we were disappointed with how last season ended, but we'll use that to motivate us."
The Crows finished the 2024 season in fourth position and lost in the preliminary final to Brisbane.
