WEEK after week, Port Adelaide senior women's coach Lauren Arnell - a schoolteacher - has patiently resisted being drawn into sideshows to focus on the big picture of developing her team. It's all about the learnings that come moment after moment, quarter on quarter, match by match. Even venue by venue.
This weekend, Arnell's crew is to have an experience that is part of Australian football folklore - the cultural experience of playing at RSEA Park, the home of the St Kilda Football Club since 1965.
This is one of those special football gathering points where Australian legends in music, film, sport and crime have made legendary contributions to the venue’s reputation. How many football grounds become part of a song's lyrics (A Decent Cup of Coffee by Weddings Parties Anything)? Or feature in a crime series with police chasing a sniper to the ground (Rush)?
Arnell's "Inaugurals" are to learn more than just football this weekend - and knowing how to handle the "environment" at a football ground is a critical learning in any footballer's life.
A week ago, the Port Adelaide AFLW players were in their heaven with the support of the faithful at Alberton Oval where North Melbourne coach Darren Crocker noted the hostility outside the boundary fence.
This week, the Port Adelaide women find a football "hell", albeit at a venue that has been spruced up with a $30 million redevelopment.
It is an experience that is denied of AFL players today (and since the early 1990s) ... and it is a moment that will further enhance Arnell's wish for her group to understand how "professionalism" demands being prepared for such tests, such as opposition supporters heckling and intimidating from the boundary.
Arnell transforms from friend - as a former St Kilda VFL player - to foe as the Port Adelaide senior coach in a return to RSEA Park. She is well experienced in such adjustments, particularly after moving to Brisbane after being Carlton's inaugural AFLW captain. More importantly, her players need to adjust in yet another learning experience in their passage through the AFLW.
"We are very much looking forward to that (reception at Moorabbin) ... and I can't wait to get out to Moorabbin," Arnell said.
"We are still learning (about each other and our game). We knew it was going to be tough. Half of the team has never played AFLW before. We are taking the small wins (in player and team development) - and over time they are going to create the bigger picture of winning more games. I don't think we will be too far off a premiership in the next couple of years."
Port Adelaide forward Justine Mules
BIG PICTURE
WHEN Port Adelaide played its first competition season in men's football - as a foundation club with the SANFL (then SA Football Association) in 1877 - finished with nine wins, two draws and four losses. Such a strong performance was off the back of six lead-up years.
Lauren Arnell's "Inaugurals" had less than three months to prepare for an AFLW competition ... against teams blessed with experiences (as Port Adelaide had in 1877) from at least six seasons of hardening experiences in a new game.
Key forward Gemma Houghton, who is living the "inaugural" challenge for the second time after being part of Fremantle's entry to the AFLW, can make reasoned assessments of how Port Adelaide is tracking in its path to building a finals challenger and premiership contender.
"Being our first year in the competition we have really taken it to some sides that have been in the competition for seven seasons," Houghton said in the lead-up to her 50th AFLW game. "I'm really impressed with the girls and I'm really excited for the future and what we're building here at Port Adelaide and I can't wait for next season. I'm really proud of the girls and I think they should be too."
While coaches are inevitably measured by the win-loss columns, Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell is not shifting her focus from setting up a solid foundation for long-term success with a squad that was carefully put together by list manager Naomi Maidment to deliver sustained results in the AFLW.
"Our list has 20 from our group of 30 who are all aged under 24 - and a very big percentage of this group are first-time AFLW players," Arnell said. "Building consistency - people on the outside under-estimate the ups and downs you can have in a season, on and off the field. We are doing what we can to support our players and help them grow while seasons can be pretty tumultuous."
SMALL STEPS
PART of the development in any sporting program - new or old - is the so-called "emotional nourishment" from a win.
Port Adelaide has lost four in a row; St Kilda has six consecutive defeats. One team will find in success the confidence top-up to carry to the home-and-away closing round next weekend - in Port Adelaide's case, a home clash with fellow AFLW newcomer Essendon at Alberton Oval on Sunday week.
Port Adelaide should see a great opportunity against a team in the same sector of the AFLW's 18th-team ladder, the bottom six - St Kilda is 14th and Port Adelaide is 16th. And there could be the argument that Port Adelaide has (marginally) the better form, a point that would be easier to make if Lauren Arnell's "Inaugurals" were more efficient with their high productivity in setting up scoring opportunities.
"The belief is there; a win would be reward for effort," said Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell.
Port Adelaide's defence - that has stood up under pressure with the rebound of Indy Tahau, the intercept marking of Alex Ballard and the fierce determination of Ebony O'Dea - should hold up again. There also is the impressive progress of Ella Boag to note.
Port Adelaide's midfield - that has a confirmed star on the rise with teenager Hannah Ewings - should set up the running game that can put St Kilda in awkward spots.
The well-known question of the moment is how does Port Adelaide put a winning score on the table? Gemma Houghton's second game after the six-week lay-off with ankle surgery should be more effective, not just by the All-Australian having that comeback game under her belt but also for her greater understanding of the players around her. The match marks her 50th in the AFLW where Houghton started at Fremantle.
So, Port Adelaide should feel another small step in "herstory" - winning on the road - is within grasp for the "Inaugurals".
"It was amazing to get back out there with the girls. Even after I kicked my first goal (against North Melbourne), they ran up to me and all got around me. The support I've had from them just really gave me confidence and I love being back out there with them and want to help them in any way I can in the next two games."
Port Adelaide key forward Gemma Houghton
PHILLIPS FACTOR
ERIN PHILLIPS has defined the ultimate selfless player. The Port Adelaide captain is still to kick a goal (as every AFLW commentator waiting for a "herstoric" moment in the Olympian's football career to unfold) - but, most significantly, Phillips ranks third in the league ratings for score assists.
The player who came home to Alberton with the expectation she would simply strap a young group to her strong shoulders and lead the way by individual brilliance has defied this image to be the ultimate team player. Her reward is the goals kicked by her team-mates.
"Erin is playing great footy for us," Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell said. "One real asset people are not seeing - and I am seeing - is her ability to create score and influence the game in key moments. I know she will continue to do that.
"Erin would love to hear (praise for her team ethos). Every player in our team is a team person. To be described as a team person ahead of a superstar is what all our players strive for. I love that Erin is our captain. She is fantastic in her role, on and off field."
OPPO WATCH
ST KILDA is in its fourth campaign in the AFLW. It has a 9-24 win-loss record - and is currently amid a six-game losing streak after starting AFLW Season 7 with consecutive wins against competition newcomers Sydney and Hawthorn.
The women's program is under the charge of Nick Dal Santo, in his first senior coaching role after playing 260 AFL games with St Kilda (2002-2013) and finishing his playing career with North Melbourne (62 games, 2014-2016). He was appointed a year ago amid much debate on the pathway of women to senior coaching ranks in the AFLW - a raod block shattered at Alberton with Lauren Arnell becoming the first AFLW player to secure a senior coaching job.
It has been a tough start for Dal Santo who took on the job declaring: "I’ve followed the journey of our AFLW program since its inception and am excited to be given the opportunity to contribute to the next chapter of women’s football at the Saints. We’ve had some excellent people involved in the program who have created a strong foundation for future success. Our list profile is very promising, and the women are hungry to make this footy club proud, something I personally identify with really strongly."
St Kilda ruck unit gains this week with the return to the selection mix of Simone Nalder after sitting out the Western Bulldogs clash with a head knock, but it is still without Erin McKinnon (concussion).
Port Adelaide's want for speed - and noted form in creating inside-50 opportunities - will be a major test for the St Kilda defence that has relied heavily on Rebecca Ott and Bianca Jakobsson.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ST KILDA v PORT ADELAIDE
When: Sunday, 23 October, 2022
Time: 12.40pm SA time
Where: RSEA Park, Melbourne
First meeting of the teams
On the ladder - Port Adelaide 1-1-6, ranked 16th. St Kilda, 2-6, ranked 14th.
ST KILDA sought to join the AFLW fron the start being among the 13 AFL clubs that applied for foundation licences in 2017. The league offered a "provisional licence" - a reserve ticket, so the speak, for the first wave of expansion. At the end of Season 1, St Kilda was assured entry for the 2020 season. Starting under the guidance of noted football achiever Peta Searle, St Kilda had a 2-4 record in 2020 to finish ninth and 3-6 in 2021 to rank 11th. St Kilda and North Melbourne AFL midfielder Nick Dal Santo took charge of the program last year to start his senior coaching career with a 2-8 win-loss count and 13th ranking.
It is worth noting that St Kilda has underpinned its women's program with a "second team" - the "Southern Saints" in the VFL Women's League.
Last weekend: Port Adelaide again was strong on creating opportunities, finding verve with the presence of All-Australian Gemma Houghton again at the goalfront. But there was that second-half fade-out that led to a 25-point loss to North Melbourne at home. Even though there was just one point in the margin at the start of the last term, St Kilda dodged a heavy loss while the run-and-carry Western Bulldogs kicked 4.11 at Ballarat to leave the final margin at 15 points.
Form lines - Port Adelaide, LLDWLLLL (losing to West Coast by 12 points, losing to the Western Bulldogs by 19 points, draw with Carlton, beating Sydney by 66 points, losing to Gold Coast by 14 points on the road, falling to Adelaide by 60 points in the first AFLW Showdown, kicking itself to a 13-point defeat against Hawthorn at Frankston and taking a 25-point loss to North Melbourne at Alberton); St Kilda, WWLLLLLL(opened the season with an epic event and 28-point win against newcomer Sydney; followed up with another smashing of the welcome mat to expansion entry Hawthorn, this time by 53 points ... and since then it has been 26-point loss to AFLW grand finalist Melbourne, 14-point loss to Gold Coast, 50-point belting from Geelong, two-point nailbiter with Collingwood but still another loss, 27-point defeat to Carlton and at the weekend a 15-point fall to the Western Bulldogs).
