The Crows players who ran out onto Adelaide Oval and began warming up during a women's match did not realise the women were still playing, a club spokesman has said.
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But at least one spectator said the men were kicking a football on the eastern side of the ground for 10 to 15 minutes and moving out of the way when play came near them.
Women's sides from the Northern Territory and South Australia were playing a curtain-raiser demonstration match before Adelaide's clash with GWS when several male players were spotted running out onto the ground and beginning to warm up.
The incident raised eyebrows among onlookers, some of whom shared photographs of the men on social media, including the Girls Play Footy Facebook page.
The players' conduct was slammed by social media users as rude, arrogant and uncaring.
The Adelaide spokesman blamed changes to the day's schedule for the incident and said it did not indicate any disrespect towards the female footballers.
He said the men were only on the ground for a short period of time before staff told them to leave.
Several male players had watched the game from the boundary line, he said.
But spectator Matthew Crowe said the men were warming up on the ground for about 10 or 15 minutes while the women were playing.
He said there was no way they did not know the women's match was underway, because some of them had been watching it from the sidelines and once on the ground, they moved out of the way when the play came near them.
Crowe said he lived in NSW but had been a Crows supporter for more than 20 years and also took an interest in GWS.
He had been in Adelaide at the weekend to watch the match, and had in the past coached a women's team in Sydney and seen how hard they had worked to be accepted into their football club.
"I'm not an activist fighting for rights, I just think it's disrespectful," he said.
Another spectator said he thought the male players were on the ground for about 10 minutes.
The club tweeted a photograph of captain Taylor "Tex" Walker watching the women's match while standing within the boundary line.
Australian Womensport and Recreation Association president Carol Fox said she hoped the matter was not a sign the men lacked respect for the women players, because Adelaide had been a strong supporter of women's football.
"They're so hyped up and ready to go, they might not have even thought of going [back into the rooms]," she said.
Know more? Email larissa.nicholson@fairfaxmedia.com.au
