Port Adelaide AFLW assistant coach Hamish Hartlett says the side is feeling a mixture of emotions heading into its inaugural match.
The former Power defender is relishing the challenge of his first professional coaching opportunity, telling the Adelaide media on Friday that he can’t wait to see the group finally take to the field.
“I think there’s a mixture of emotions, a lot of excitement I think a hint of relief that’s it’s finally come as well,” Hartlett said.
“We get a great opportunity against West Coast tomorrow to figure out where we’re at. There are a few other new teams coming into the competition and our expectation and our belief as a football club is that we want to be the best at least of the teams coming in, and then to challenge some of the teams that have been existing for a period of time in the competition.
“Tomorrow’s a fantastic opportunity to put our best foot forward, make a bit of a statement hopefully and show the rest of the competition what we’re about as a team.”
The 193-game AFL player has a wealth of experience to share with the side, but will also be leaning on senior players to steady the nerves.
“We’ve got 16 girls that have never represented any club at AFLW level so therefore, we have a minimum of at least seven debutantes tomorrow, so that’s super exciting for us as a footy club,” Hartlett said.
“We’re certainly going to rely on the experience of Erin Phillips, Ange Foley, Justine Mules (and others) that have played a lot of football at AFLW level to help the girls through their first experience.”
Hartlett has been impressed with what the team has shown throughout pre-season, quickly developing chemistry and cohesion, on and off the field.
“The girls have been fantastic, I’ve got a great group of backline girls that are really tight now, who listen to me, which is a good start” he laughed.
“I’ve certainly seen some improvement and development in them as players in the short time I’ve had them so far, so it’s a fantastic squad to work with. Both the playing and coaching group are working as one and we’re confident in what we’ve done in the last 10 weeks to make sure we’re primed and ready to go.
“What we’ve shown in our two trials against the Crows and Essendon is that our best football can certainly match it against a quality opposition. What we will be asking the girls for – certainly in the first part of the season – is to just compete really hard. That contested footy is something we’re going to be focusing on.”
When asked about the appointment of Phillips as the team’s inaugural captain, Hartlett beamed about the significance of the moment, for the club and for the Phillips family.
“I think that was one of the most extraordinary and emotional announcements that I’ve been a part of in this football club over the last 14, 15 years,” he said.
“We saw how much it meant to Erin and to (her dad) Greg when the announcement was made that she was going to be captain. It shows how much it means to them as a family. To have someone like Erin represent us as the inaugural captain is something that we’re incredibly proud of. We couldn’t have asked for a better person to represent us.”
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.
