Emma Checker knows everything there is to know about the Original Rivalry.
The Adelaide United Women Captain has represented both sides of the rivalry after leaving the Reds for Melbourne victory in 2013, where she spent two seasons.
However, the South Australian local is back in Red having returned to the Club last season and admits these games are always that little bit more special.
Checker revealed that it is a fixture which brings about a great sense of excitement, and a match she looks forward to.
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The 22-year-old added that despite the anticipation and passion surrounding games of this scale, keeping the emotions in check is equally important.
“Obviously Adelaide and Victory have had that rivalry for a while now,” she said.
“And I think personally I always find that I have a little bit of extra rivalry there with it being my old club as well.
“But I think in saying that we do just treat it like any other game even though there is still that little bit of extra fire in the belly, we can’t get too carried away by that feeling.”
But having experienced the animosity shared between the two teams, Checker said the fact she is playing her former team has no real influence in her preparation.
“I don’t think it necessarily changes anything in terms of preparation,” she explained.
“And even in terms of what I do on game day, I think it’s just more so being aware.
“You never want to lose to your old club and I think you always go out there to prove a point.
“But my mindset is 100 per cent with the team and what we’re working towards as a group and I think heading into the game we should be confident and aiming for three points.”
Adelaide are without a win in their past three matches having recorded two draws and a loss. They hope that changes against the Westfield W-League 2018/19 league leading Victory.
Incidentally, the pair played out a goalless stalemate at AAMI Park in the opening round of the season.
Checker hoped that fine tuning a few areas in training would put them in good stead come Friday night at Marden Sports Complex.
“It was a 0-0 draw last time and we did well in the sense that we kept a clean sheet,” she said.
“But on the flip side you don’t win without a goal, so I think for us we’ll aim again for the clean sheet side of things.
“And hopefully we can work on the next couple of days at training just taking our chances and being sharp up front.
“Whilst we had a disappointing game last week, we’ve been good enough to brush that aside and learn from it and take the good things out of it and obviously learn from the negatives.
“And just be ready for a big game again on Friday.”
Adelaide United host Melbourne Victory in Round 8 of the Westfield W-League 2018/19 season on Friday, 21 December at Marden Sports Complex. Kick-off is at 7.00pm ACDT. Gates open at 6.00pm.
