NECESSITY - by the loss of key forward Gemma Houghton to ankle surgery - dictates Port Adelaide AFLW captain Erin Phillips move from the centre square to the goal square.

And it is not so much of a luxury - the "rob Peter to pay Paul" move at match committee - to deny the Port Adelaide midfield the experience of the AFLW champion while senior coach Lauren Arnell can call on the rising stars of Maria Moloney, Abbey Dowrick and Hannah Ewings to power the engine room.

Phillips moved from the midfield, where she has been heavily checked, to attack in Sunday's draw with Carlton at Princes Park where her 13 disposals were marked with goal assists and repetitively outsmarting defenders. Phillips' work at stoppages in the forward-50 arc also was critical in setting up forward plays, easing the loss of Houghton.

And with the Fremantle recruit to spend six weeks on the sidelines after corrective surgery for her case of syndesmosis, Port Adelaide has a long-term plan with Phillips in an attacking role.

"We might see Erin occasionally at centre bounce, but with Gemma Houghton out of the side we will need more firepower in attack," said Port Adelaide assistant coach Hamish Hartlett. "Erin played that role really well at the weekend. It was her most-influential game.

"We will see her forward more often in the back half of the year and, hopefully, she will help us kick some scores."

Hartlett also has counselled Phillips on the need to not demand too much of herself in the team's inaugural season.

"I had a good conversation with Erin during the week about the expectation she feels at the moment (as the captain and mega-star recruit)," Hartlett said. "She wants to do the right thing by the team by being out there at every training session and with every minute possible on the field.

"What is really important for Erin - and for us - is for her to be really selfless in the way she approaches her training from week to week. She needs to look after herself to make sure that at the weekend her body is firing and ready to go.

"We saw that at the weekend."

Port Adelaide returns to Alberton for its second AFLW match - and first against Sydney, a fellow new team of AFLW Season 7.

Port Adelaide has a 0-1-2 win-draw-record after losing to West Coast in Perth and the Western Bulldogs at home and the 27-27 tie with Carlton at Ikon Park on Sunday. Sydney has lost its three games against St Kilda, Collingwood and at the weekend to Greater Western Sydney in a lopsided derby decided by 47 points.

The form line suggests Port Adelaide is building to its first W in W. It certainly will start a home game as favourite for the first time in "herstory".

"We are really close to getting our first win on the board this season," Hartlett said. "The draw (against Carlton), in hindsight, was not a bad result.

"If you had told us before the season began we would be having a draw with Carlton at Carlton, we would have probably taken it.

"We had opportunities to win (on Sunday), but I do feel the first win is pretty close.

"It will be interesting (to carry the mantle of favourites). We might have been favourites for that round one game against West Coast in Perth where we played okay and shot ourselves in the foot (by conceding a two-goal lead at the start of the last term). The girls will enjoy the challenge.

"One great thing about (senior coach) Lauren (Arnell) is she is a fantastic motivator. She will put it on the girls to perform and continue to improve.

"Lauren is one of the best speakers I have heard in my time in professional football. She communicates her message - be it before training or presenting a debutante with her guernsey or firing the girls up - as one of the best I have ever seen. Her messaging resonates with the girls.

"I must admit, (player development coach) Cam Sutcliffe and I stand there in the changerooms in the pre-game with goose bumps and the hair on the back of neck standing up when Lauren is talking to the girls. That is how good she is at motivating people."

Port Adelaide's defensive game is sound. But the need to score more often - rather than just in one-quarter bursts - remains the focus.

"Our tackling, our contested work is in a pretty good space," Hartlett said. "If we bring that for the entirety of the game, it gives us a good chance.

"We kicked all four of our goals (against Carlton) in the second quarter. It certainly is an emphasis of ours across the past week or two to be a bit more creative and braver with our ball movement. We saw signs of that at the weekend. We will continue to encourage the girls to take some more risks with the football. We felt we saw some benefit from that at the weekend. We had 33 inside-50s, the most we have had in a game.

"It comes with an inexperienced and young group that has not played many games together. Things are not going to click straight away. We will continue to plug away at that to get more scores on the board."

Hartlett has moved to AFLW coaching after a 193-game playing career at Port Adelaide from 2009 to last season with his resume including leadership as the AFL team's vice-captain and lieutenant to Travis Boak from 2016. He has noted the AFLW side is eager to fast-track its run along football's learning curve.

"That is certainly what I have found, particularly with the defensive group that I have," Hartlett said. "They are a fantastic group who are exactly like sponges - anything you ask of them, from reviewing the game to the tasks for improving our game, they implement straight away at training.

"You see drastic changes straight away," adds Hartlett who has managed a defence with notable change in how the ball rebounds and transitions from the defensive 50 across the past three weeks. "They are 'coachable'. That is the case across the group.

"In the three games we have played so far, we are the second-youngest team by average games played with an average of 11 matches. We have a young group - and they are very keen to learn and they are putting a lot of time into their game.

"I am surrounded by 30 players who are so keen to learn and so keen to get better."

One of Hartlett's pupils is defender Ebony O'Dea who at the weekend mastered AFLW star, Carlton forward Darcy Vescio, conceding just two possessions before the Carlton specialist goalscorer was moved to a wing.

"She is always walking around with a smile on her face," Hartlett said of the spirited O'Dea. "Ebony is as hard as they get. And tough as they get in the contest. She is so courageous and brave. In our trial game at Thebarton at the start of the season, she went back with the flight of the ball and copped a big whack in her lung. She was seriously injured - and she managed to get up for round one, such is her bravery and courage.

"Ebony is an eccentric unit. Often when I am talking to the girls before a game, she is sitting there fiddling with her Rubik's Cube. That is part of her preparation and the way she does things. Everyone loves her. She has been a wonderful person to coach and she is a great player for us."

The clash with Sydney starts at 12.40pm on Saturday at Alberton.