Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell says the team is focused on finding balance and consistency ahead of Season 10, as they prepare to face Adelaide in the first pre-season hit-out on Saturday morning. 

Speaking to the Adelaide media at Alberton on Thursday, Arnell reflected on the team’s pre-season progress, the importance of continuing to build belief within the young group following last year’s finals, and her offensive coaching style. 

Arnell on the pre-season 
“This pre-season we’ve been able to create challenging situations for the players so that we can build a similar level of frustration that they’ll feel during a game, and especially during finals. If you’re playing a really good team, it never feels easy, so we’ve been able to recreate those levels of frustration for the group, as well as the excitement and enjoyment of scoring, which is important.” 

“I think you always get to this point of pre-season where the players have had enough of running into each other during training. We're excited to have an opposition in the Crows this weekend at our first trial here at Alberton.” 

Arnell on the group’s off-season effort 
“The whole group has worked exceptionally hard in the off-season. We've seen several players achieve enormous personal best efforts (in the 2km time trials), and with a group of very young players who haven't banked too many off-seasons, I'd expect more of that in the coming years as well. The group has worked as hard as they ever have again over this off-season.” 

Arnell on the takeaways from the 2024 finals experience 
“November (the finals) was pure excitement for our group. Having come from a long way back as an expansion team less than four years ago; to then make a preliminary final last year with real momentum behind us, it generated a lot of excitement in our group. It was a nice early reward for hard work, particularly over the past 12 months. We’re hoping to carry a bit of that momentum and the belief we gained into this year. Of course, other teams would have been working just as hard as we were but may not have been able to create the momentum that we did last year. I think we can take some balanced lessons out of that experience.” 

Arnell on expectations this season 
“The expectation is to find balance and consistency. The narrative could be that we've got a hard fixture, but that's not the narrative in my mind. For me, it’s the fact we've earned the right to have a tougher fixture because we finished so high last year, so what a great opportunity to play against some really strong teams week in, week out, and really find consistency in how we approach the season. We've got 12 games, and we've come off some real excitement last year, so it's really important that we have some consistency in how we go about things, whether we're winning or whether we've dropped a game or two here or there against really good teams.” 

Arnell on her offensive coaching style 
“Fans will see our offensive style again from us this season. I think what we've refined over the course of the last couple of years is our ability to compete in the contest with more experienced bodies. Contest work and team defence are always at the core of our game and will be again. I've never shied away from saying I'm an offensive coach. As someone who's been in AFLW from day one, I take real responsibility in creating a style of footy and helping our players play a game style that's exciting to watch and heaps of fun to play. I really believe in the physicality of the game, so I hope that that translates again for us this year.” 

Arnell on offensive style of play across the AFLW competition 
“Every team goes about it differently, but it's (offensive football) exciting footy to watch. I think it's important that all teams seek to play offensive styles of footy and be strong in the contest. That style of game has been in women's football before AFLW, and I'd like to see it continue in the competition. It's a hard balance – you've got 18 teams and more players than ever in the competition, and not every list is built the same. We’ve built our list to lend itself to contest and offence styles of play. I would hope that every coach has a similar mentality, but it can be limiting depending on the players you've got in front of you and at what stage of development they're at. Certainly, for myself and what we control here at Port Adelaide, we want to put on a fun and exciting brand of footy, which for me means high-scoring and strong in the contest.” 

Arnell on Lauren Young’s return to AFLW football following a serious knee injury 
“We’re hoping to see Lauren out there in the first half of the season. She's had a really challenging rehabilitation journey. It wasn't just a clean ACL injury; she's had to have a meniscus cleanup in December as well. We’re really proud of the way she's attacked her recovery. As a draftee going straight into ACL rehab, I can only imagine how tough that's been for Lauren, and to see her progress in how she's connected with the program and the group has been impressive. She's at the back end of her rehab, which is exciting, and she’s in non-contact training at the moment. Both the players and coaches are excited for Lauren to get out there, and being able to let her loose a little bit has been a nice reward for her.”

Arnell on Matilda Scholz’s form throughout the pre-season 
“Matilda attacks the footy and you want the players going hard in pre-season training – I think it's important to train how you want to play. Matilda has a real presence, and I think it’s her biggest weapon. We help her channel that at training and certainly develop it as well. It's also bringing the best out of her teammates. I’m really pleased with her progress this pre-season.” 

Arnell on Ash Woodland’s form 
“Ash has worked really hard to build her aerobic capacity this pre-season, and we know she's able to generate some good repeat speed efforts. You would have seen in the finals and the later stages of last year that we tried to get her on-ball for small patches in quarters, and you can expect to see a little bit more of that this year, as well as playing in the forward line.”