IF it is not the commanders in the football department - Juliet Haslam and Rachael Sporn - absorbing everything Ange Foley has learned in her exalted AFLW journey, there is the sponge of the young Port Adelaide players wanting to get better.

So, it speaks volumes of the Port Adelaide vice-captain's leadership - and her professionalism - that Foley today feels she is playing her best football, even with the weight of a new team on her very strong shoulders.

"This playing group is like a sponge," says Foley of Lauren Arnell's "Inaugurals" at Port Adelaide. "They want to learn. They take the lessons from the matches at the weekends to training during the week. They want to get better. That is where the real reward of our season is.

"We could go into our shell now with three games to play in this season. We could say, 'We're losing ... that's it'. But the energy at training and the way we train - along with what we are executing straight away on the training track - is awesome.

"We get around each other. We continue to build what this team is going to become. That is rewarding for us at the moment. I love being a part of such a team."

Such strength of ambition from a new team answers senior coach Lauren Arnell's demand for "professionalism" on and off the field from her players.

"We are always learning - and always wanting to learn," Foley said of her team-mates. "We are learning what you can do during the week, whether you are at home or catching up with coaches or catching up with strength and conditioning. That is the side of the game that is new for these girls who have not been in a program like this before.

"We are watching vision (of games). It is understanding where you need to be on the field, when you need to be - and if you are not, there is vision of you not doing what is required for the team and learning where you need to be and why. Then there is nutrition, fitness ... that is the professionalism required off the field that helps on the field. That is what we are trying to develop in this young group."

Such a refresher course appears to have revitalised Foley.

"I feel great," says Foley of her form after a quick turnaround from Season 6.

"I am really enjoying my footy, even with two seasons in one year. I am absolutely enjoying the challenge - (the tasks presented in building a new team) are the reasons I came to Port Adelaide. I hope I can help lead from the front, by performance and also leadership. I feel great. My (rebuilt) knee feels great. I am honestly enjoying it - and loving it at Port Adelaide. And that makes you perform well.

"I am getting the best out of my footy at the moment. Personally, I have taken my game to the next level ..."

This is a significant personal review from a 33-year-old player who arrived at Alberton with a resume that includes two AFLW premiership rings and success in the Victorian and Northern Territory women's leagues.

Port Adelaide returns to Alberton Oval to play finals contender North Melbourne at 12.40pm on Saturday with the lessons from a 13-point loss to Hawthorn - in particular the 1.10 on the scoreboard at Frankston - having dominated training this week.

"One goal, 10 is frustrating - frustrating because that game was within our reach and we let that opportunity go," Foley said. "There is frustration, but the positive is we had 11 scoring shots. But we did not make the most of them. We are generating those opportunities. This is a positive. We just have to take advantage of them by turning them into goals.

"We trained forward entries (on Tuesday) ... it is an area of our game we are not too happy with at the moment. Our forwards are offering heaps of movement. But we have missed the quality of Gemma Houghton ... and Jade de Melo who has been out of the side the past couple of weeks."

Port Adelaide will complete training at Alberton on Thursday evening with key forward, Fremantle recruit Gemma Houghton, pressing for a quicker-than-expected return from the ankle injury (that required surgery) suffered in the round 2 home clash with the Western Bulldogs. The All-Australian trained on Tuesday with encouraging signs to push for selection on Friday.

"That is awesome for us," Foley said. "Get Gemma and Jade back and those 10 behinds turn into goals and it is different game.

"Gemma has been working really hard. She has never had an injury before. She has taken it really well and her rehab has been really quick and awesome. She is athletic. She has done all the right things. She is back earlier than expected, but - most important - she is moving well. She trained Tuesday. She will again Thursday and if she gets through training, she will be up for selection. That is super exciting for us. Having Gemma in the team boosts us in general, with our morale. It is nice to look up and have Gemma Houghton in the forward line running at you - she is quick and provides heaps of energy. It will be awesome."

Port Adelaide has a 1-1-5 win-loss record with the 10-round home-and-away season having unfolded, as they say, "in the blink of an eye". For all the enthusiasm and effort that is so evident from Arnell's "Inaugurals", the results seem to have left the players without a due reward.

"Have we been rewarded? In patches we have," Foley said. "We have been together for just 18 weeks. We have played seven games together ... and in three weeks we will be in an off-season when it has gone so quickly that it hardly feels the season has been 'on' yet. It has been super quick ... but that is where we are in the AFLW with four new teams, a new start date for Season 7.

"You always go out wanting to win," added Foley of her attitude that fits perfectly with expectation at Port Adelaide. "The challenge here spurs me on more ... I want to build this program at Port Adelaide."

Foley and her team-mates met with their union representatives at the AFLPA this week to work through the questions of "where this competition needs to be".

"That is about growth," Foley said. "The girls are keen to be full time. It is a work-in-progress as it has been since we started in 2017. The AFL has done a great job."

Foley has joined Arnell in dismissing as irrelevant the opinion expressed by Sydney media identity Steve Price in questioning the merit of AFLW games.

"I choose to not deal with that stuff - as a professional in this game, with my focus on playing and training well and wanting to give my best every weekend, going into that debate only puts a negative thought in your mind," Foley said. "I know the (Price argument) does not sound great. But there is so much positivity about AFLW, so many positive things happening in the AFLW space, that my energy should be directed toward that space. It is the better way to go."