SHE might have one of the newest, youngest and most inexperienced sides in the competition, but Port Adelaide AFLW coach Lauren Arnell says her side is ready to make its mark.
Port Adelaide will travel to Perth to take on West Coast in the club’s historic first AFLW game on Saturday, capping a remarkable 12 months since gaining entry to the competition.
Arnell’s 30-player list includes 16 who have never played at the elite level.
After 36 AFLW games herself between 2017 and 2021, Arnell will become the first person to both play and coach in the competition when the side runs out at Mineral Resources Park.
“This is week eleven for us and our draftees came in around week three so it’s been a short but really positive preparation and we’re just so excited for Saturday now,” Arnell said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“We’ve got a fantastic group of players. We’ve got a big group of players who have never played AFLW football before but we feel really confident in our preparation and we feel ready.
“There’s a question between how much preparation you can do versus how ready do you feel.
“I feel confident that our players feel ready and myself, I feel confident too.”
Having eleven weeks from building a playing list to playing an official game is no mean feat.
The side managed some match simulation against the Crows three weeks ago, followed by a trip to Melbourne to tackle Essendon in a practice game, which Arnell said had helped the team gel.
“There’s things you do on field and there’s a whole range of off-field preparation so we’re really confident with where we’ve gone with that,” she explained.
“I was just chatting with Juliet Haslam – our head of AFLW – around the Essendon trip we made with that pre-season practice game around just how nice it was getting away together and how our group gels together.
“You wouldn’t know that 16 of our list of 30 haven’t played W before. They go about their business really well and it probably speaks to the culture we’ve tried to build since day one.
“I’ve exposed them to situations that suited us and also put them in situations as a playing group which weren’t perfect as well and we learn from those things.
“But we’re happy with how we’re prepared.
“Nothing worthwhile is easy. Good people make things easier and certainly there’s challenges every day but I’m really grateful to have great people around us.”
Given the inexperience of the playing group, Arnell has leaned on her leadership group as the first game of the season nears.
One of the most experienced, Justine Mules, will this week play her 50th AFLW game, joining just nine others to reach that milestone in the competition’s history (although 11 players are on track to play their 50th game this week).
“Juzzy is one of those heart and soul players,” Arnell said of the tenacious three-time AFLW premiership midfielder. “Just the vibe she brings to the group. Her ability to turn up and grind and work hard and set a standard in that sense but also to be really fun and engaging with every single player on our list.
“That’s really important when you build a team and so Justine has really taken a step forward in coming to Port Adelaide and has taken on leadership responsibility and ownership of what our culture looks like and I couldn’t be happier to have Justine in our environment.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing her perform in her 50th.”
This week’s opponent, West Coast, claimed last year’s wooden spoon after winning just one game.
Arnell sees similarities between the sides and expects a tight contest on Saturday.
“They’re probably ahead of us in that they’ve got a bit of continuity in their list – they’ve got a number of players that have been with them since their first day but they’ve also had some change in their list, particularly recently,” she said.
“They might be in a similar position to us where they’re just trying to build some team consistency and there’ll be some fresh faces that have a point to prove as well so we’ll be ready for that.
“I think it’ll be a hotly contested game.”
Port Adelaide will name its first 21-player side on Friday afternoon – the same day Arnell’s outfit will travel to Perth.
Saturday’s game gets underway at 1:10pm AWST / 2:40pm ACST and will be shown live on free-to-air channel 7mate and on Fox Footy.
