A DRAW is a result.

It's not a win carrying four premiership points on the AFLW ladder.

It's not a loss that carries the torment of what could have been done when there is no time to do anything but carry regrets - or learn from the mistakes. Apparently, sporting adage has teams learning more from defeat.

But it is a result. It's a tie, an event trapped in an uneasy space between bitterness associated with defeat and exhilaration from victory. A draw seems closer to the annoyance of a loss than the pleasure of a win, however.

"A draw is painful," said energetic Port Adelaide midfielder Jacqueline Yorston after the 27-27 draw with Carlton at Princes Park in Melbourne on Sunday, a day marked in history as Port Adelaide's first non-losing result in AFLW.

"You would rather win or lose."

No club song to sing in victory. No-one to blame in defeat.

Just the emptiness of a drawn result. The draw. Share the points ... move on to next weekend in search of that other result, a win ... or a loss.

Once again, Australian football can argue about the merit of the draw. There is extra time in finals, even grand finals. But not in home-and-away matches.

This keeps Australian football in line with world football in most (but not all) leagues where each team is given 90 minutes to secure a win. And in the Olympic high jump where the rules allow for joint gold medallists, as recalled from the latest rendition of the Games in Tokyo. Horse racing too.

There are many other sports - baseball, basketball, tennis, golf - that demand a winner.

There is no right way, no wrong way. But a draw seemed the appropriate result at Ikon Park on Sunday afternoon.

Port Adelaide and Carlton had plenty of time to deliver a verdict that was on either side of the result that is recorded in the books, a 27-27 draw. Neither could find the winning edge in a game of three differing phases - Carlton opening best with a fluid kicking game that generated two goals; Port Adelaide responding with a remarkable four-goal second term; Carlton clawing back the margin by responding in contested football that finished in a 100-100 draw as well.

Is it strange that Port Adelaide AFLW games work to momentum shifts rather than goal-to-goal blows with the opposition? Three games is a small sample, however.

This Season 7, round three game did not have either Port Adelaide or Carlton deserving of a loss. But neither team was rewarded with a win.

Extra time with two five-minute terms has no guarantee of delivering a winner and a loser. This is even more relevant in a new league with low-scoring games.

Now there will be advocates who will want to use the AFLW as a testing ground for tie-breakers in Australian football. Considering draws are not a regular occurrence - even in a low-scoring new league - there will be very little to analyse from any experiments with extra time in AFLW.

The only argument for extra time remains the call for there to be two - rather than one - emotion from a match result - the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, as said in the Wide World of Sports opener for American television network ABC.

A draw is a result. It also has an emotion attached to it. Many might not like it, but no-one can deny it.

Port Adelaide remains chasing its first W in W.

The next opportunity comes on Saturday at home at Alberton again, this time facing another of the four new teams in AFLW - Sydney. It is the first time Port Adelaide measures itself against one of the other three arrivals to W (that gained Victorian pair Essendon and Hawthorn this season).

At Brisbane, AFL coach Chris Fagan speaks of the "emotional nourishment" teams need from wins after being in a form slump.

Port Adelaide needs a win in W - not because this new team seems flat or spent. Rather, Lauren Arnell's "Inaugurals" deserve a reward for the hard work they are putting into chasing a first win.

There was an apt image from Arnell's post-match remark that the theme at Alberton will remain "head down, bum up".

Port Adelaide's players might have dropped their heads in disappointment with another lead being lost, this time for a draw rather than a loss as experienced in Perth against West Coast in the season-opener three weeks ago. But they should walk into training at Alberton this week with their heads filled with the belief vice-captain Ange Foley is demanding from her team-mates.

Port Adelaide is finding more and more each week. It is proving list manager Naomi Maidment has gathered 30 ambitious players to be the "Inaugurals".

Hannah Ewings is the next generation talent on which a team builds sustained success.

Ebony O'Dea is the spirit of tenacious determination to succeed.

Abbey Dowrick is the player who will define Port Adelaide - and the AFLW league - for the next decade.

Olivia Levicki is a fascinating convert to Australian football - on the urging of Phillips - after a sporting life in basketball where Phillips found her fame after the pathway to Australian football was closed off at 15.

Each week, there is another player who leaves her mark on the Port Adelaide Football Club. This team is to be more than Erin Phillips.

"We will keep plugging away," says Arnell.

No-one should doubt it.

Saturday should be a significant day at Alberton Oval. There will be a result, win, lose ... or draw.