Big V Men & Women ready to tackle the Adelaide Football League – Watch LIVE Saturday from 2.30pm!

Excitement is building ahead of this Saturday’s Big V Double-header against the Adelaide Football League at Norwood Oval.

The Adelaide Footy League (formerly known as the South Australian Amateur Football League) boasts a proud 115-year history, and, like the VAFA, is one of the game’s largest leagues with a long list of champion players.

The VAFA and SAAFL first met at the MCG in 1925 in what was the Big V’s first-ever appearance, and 101 years later, the Victoria-South Australia rivalry will burn as fiercely as ever.

The Big V Senior Women and Big V Senior Men will tackle the Croweaters for the first time since 2018 and are raring to go after a five-week training program.

Part 1 of the double-header will kick off on Saturday from 2.30pm Eastern with the Big V Women in action LIVE & FREE RIGHT HERE on VAFA.com.au.

The team will run out with a perfect 6-0 record, including a 37-point victory over the Adelaide Footy League in their only meeting in 2018, and will be determined to continue their unbeaten streak against all comers.

Led by triple St Kevin’s premiership coach Tom Purcell, the team is stacked with a combination of established guns and rising stars.

“The talent in the VAFA is so strong,” Purcell told the VAFA podcast ‘For the Love of the Game.’

“On Saturday, we can show off their skills, and how far the game’s progressed with speed, and their ability, their endurance, their decision-making.

“Once you see that Big V sash and understand what the jumper means – you’re actually playing for Victoria, and the privilege that is, and the history and the tradition and the culture that the game has, and the opportunity that they have, and the support they get from their families, their parents, their friends, their club.

“To think that they’re gonna be running out and wearing that – the sense of camaraderie just ignites.

“We’ll be a Big V Express, and they’ll be as close and as bound as they would be on any Saturday, and they’ll give everything for our state.

“I’m a Victorian. I love Victoria. I love everything about it, and football is a huge part of that. And the Big V and the VAFA history is a big part of being Victorian. So it means a lot to me. It’s hard to put in words, but it’s just part of your DNA.”

Part 2 of the double-header will see the Big V Men tackling Adelaide Football League from 4.30pm Eastern, LIVE & FREE on VAFA.com.au.

The VAFA has won 8 of the last 9 meetings between the two teams since 1995, with the South Australians’ only win in that time coming at Trevor Barker Oval in 2016.

But after back-to-back losses to the Perth Football League, the Big V Men will be desperate to avoid three consecutive defeats for the first time in 40 years.

Daniel Harford will reprise his role as Big V Men’s coach after taking the job in 2025 and is looking forward to the chance to travel and bond with his team for an away game.

“It gets to that point in the preparation where you’re just almost waiting for Saturday,” Harford told ‘For the Love of the Game.’

“We’ve done a bit of work in the last month or so refining this squad, getting it all together, trying to create some chemistry and connection.”

Harford is drawing upon lessons he learned during last year’s campaign.

“The main thing I picked up was the desire and the intent from the players. Once they’re in, they’re all in, and being able to really harness that, and embrace that, and use that as a bit of a force to galvanise the whole crew all the way through, and then hopefully have that reflected on game day.

“The standard of the footy was ridiculous. I don’t think I’ve coached a better game or been involved in a better game of footy than we played last year against Perth, albeit going down by that goal.

“So the standard of footy was a real eye-opener for me when it all comes together, and you get the best of the best together.

“What we’ve done this year is understand a bit more about the requirements at this level – certainly for me, from a team composition perspective. It gave me a philosophy on how I want to play the game, and then picking the right players to fit it.

“So, it’s not necessarily pick a squad and build a game around them. It’s build a game and then pick the squad around that.

“It’s not necessarily just the best 22 players. It’s the players that will be best in the roles that we need them to be in.”

Harford noted that the Croweaters haven’t revealed their squad.

“They’re giving us nothing, and that’s okay,” he said.

“We’ve got some guys over there in South Australia who helped us a little bit with some of the guys that they know are in the squad, and some of their traits. But largely we go in flying a little bit blind to the opposition, which I don’t necessarily mind. We want to focus on us for the majority of the contest anyway.”

The unusual dimensions of Norwood Oval, which is approximately 15 metres longer and 15 metres narrower than Elsternwick Park, has also been on Harford’s mind.

“It does require a bit more capacity to be good in contest, because there’s not as much space, wing to wing. The game’s going to be played in contests a little bit, but you also need to be able to lengthen and stretch the ground when required as well.

“I’m incredibly privileged to be able to do it again, and that’s not lost on me. So, looking forward to it, hopefully we get the job done, we bring a trophy home and represent the Big V with great pride.”

BIG V vs ADELAIDE FOOTBALL LEAGUE:

SATURDAY JUNE 6 – Norwood Oval, Adelaide

• 2.30pm Eastern – Big V Senior Women
• 4.30pm Easterm -Big V Senior Men

Both games LIVE & FREE ABOVE from 2.30pm Eastern.