PORT ADELAIDE defender Hannah Dunn relished the opportunity to play in front of a large contingent of Port Faithful at Alberton Oval on Saturday.
“I don’t think many girls have played in front of too many more than a couple of hundred, so it was pretty cool to have five-and-a-half thousand people cheering for us,” Dunn said.
“(Never Tear Us Apart) was cool. Being at the men’s game seeing that, and then having it in our game was something that was so special. We will remember it and we will cherish it in all of our home games and will be a good tradition we can carry on through.
“Port Adelaide supporters are very passionate…we love the passion.”
Reflecting on Saturday’s Round Two match, Dunn highlighted where the side slipped up and how they have reviewed the 19-point loss.
“We pride ourselves on our contested possession game and we lost that, although it was still a hotly contested game, we probably were just giving away a few silly free kicks,” Dunn said.
“Probably just building a bit more connection through all the lines and playing a more offensive game that we have been practicing through pre-season. I think we shied away from that a bit on the weekend.
“We probably just want to build a bit more on our offensive game style and our elite kicking skills – we just need to bring that back.”
The side will travel to Melbourne to face Carlton this weekend, with the former Gold Coast captain feeling positive about the style of football Port Adelaide can play.
“I think our best footy can beat more than half the teams in the competition,” Dunn said.
"(Carlton) plays a similar game style to the Doggies so we’ve had a bit of practice already. They’re definitely gettable.”
Even with two years of AFLW captaincy under her belt and now, being voted into the leadership group at the Power, Dunn continues to learn about how she can be the best leader possible.
“I think I learned a lot at Gold Coast, as I think most new captains do in the first couple of years captaining a team, and that was probably to get my game in order instead of trying to fix all the problems and think that I can be everyone's shoulder to cry on.
“People look up to you more when you’re playing well so that’s probably one of the biggest take-aways I’ve learned is that you’ve got to have your backyard in order and be playing good footy in order to lead well.”
“We've got a whole group of great humans (at Port Adelaide). I think we've gelled quite well only being together for 13 weeks. It feels like I’ve known the girls for a lot longer than that.”
Port Adelaide will take on Carlton at Ikon Park from 11:40am ACST on Sunday. The match will be shown live on Channel 7 and Fox Footy.
