Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell has praised her side’s maturity, resilience, and attacking brand of football as they prepare to face the GIANTS in Round 12 on Saturday.
Reflecting on the team’s form and their memorable Showdown IV victory, Arnell discussed the importance of maintaining momentum, finding “the click” as a group late in the season, and her focus on continuing to evolve her side defensively.
Arnell also celebrated Ash Woodland ahead of her milestone 75th game this weekend, touching on her impressive career, and the impact she has had on the Power’s young side.
Arnell on the approach to the clash against the GIANTS
“We approach this week like we do any other, and obviously we’re still an opportunity to make finals. We’ll look to maintain the momentum that we've been able to generate over the last month or so.”
Arnell on the Showdown IV win
“You all might be sick of me saying it, but the way we go about things is crucial. I thought it felt like a final, and I think anyone that was at the game would have enjoyed the atmosphere and a little bit of back and forth on and off the ball, which comes with finals-type games. I thought our group was exceptional in that space, looking after each other and playing the game in the right way.”
Arnell on finding form late in the season
“I love the form that we're in, and I think it's a real positive for our group. I hope it allows us an opportunity to play finals, and whichever way that falls, we have a real understanding of what we're capable of in 2025 and beyond. I think you can only build on what we're doing right now, and this weekend against the GIANTS is another opportunity to continue some maturity about the way we go about things and continue to build on the form that we've been in.”
Arnell on her side finding ‘the click’
“The click is a bit of language we've been talking about, actually. I reckon there's a number of games you need to play as a group to perform under high pressure, like the finals-type game that we had in the Showdown, and the players are noticing it without being prompted, and they feel like there's this click on field. Sometimes we wish we ‘clicked’ sooner than we did, and I do think there's a little bit of patience that's required for that. Unfortunately, with the limited season that there is in AFLW, I think we're clicking at a time where, if we were playing in a men's fixture, it'd be at a very good time of year. And for us, we need to hopefully create an opportunity where we make finals, and if we don't, I think there's a conversation going into next year around how we get the click to occur earlier — and maybe we have just played enough games of footy together as a program to do that.”
“There are things that we'll discuss whenever our season does end, and there'll be parts of our review where we look into how we can generate better form earlier in a season. And I do think that there's a live conversation around how much footy our group’s played together, and the age and the maturity of our group. I think the more footy we've played together, it's been a really strong sign of our players' connection and how we've maintained momentum as a program, despite things not going our way earlier in the year. I think it's a massive tick and a green flag for our program in how we've been able to come home off the back of not a great start to the year, and I think we take absolute positivity out of that and then search for the next piece — which is better form earlier in the season.”
Arnell on playing an offensive brand of football and bettering team defence
“Our team defence is a conversation that we've had over time, and it's something I've been really bullish about. If you want to score as much as we do, there are going to be leaks in the boat, and so I've always said to my group, if we score more than the opposition and we're winning the game, I don't really mind. The flip side of that is it's meant that we have let teams score, and it's impacted our percentage at this point of the year.
So, you know, I put my hand up for that, and we have invested heavily in our offence and our contest, which has put us in the position to play what I think is the most attractive brand of footy there is in the competition. People love watching us play, but we will tidy our defence up as we grow as a program. It is something that you would have noticed has improved — the connection with our backline, and particularly our mids, over the last two to three weeks has improved significantly — and it's something we continue to look to do.”
Arnell on Ash Woodland’s milestone 75th game
“Ash has been huge. It was a big leap coming from the cross-town rivals to join our program, and I don't think that should be understated. It took a lot of courage for Ash to come and move out of an environment that would have been exceptionally comfortable for her, and to come here and search for ways to improve herself and help us improve as a program — and she's done that.
I think you look at a young person who wasn't initially drafted when she was first available in AFLW, and to go to Melbourne and have a crack with the Dees, and then to come back and play footy here in Adelaide, and then to come across to Port — just to watch her growth as someone still in their mid-20s, who's now taken a leap out of being a league-leading goal kicker in a past life to now being a quality midfielder in our team — she's been exceptional. There's only more to come for Ash — we love her.”
