Fans braved the cold to meet their favourite Port Adelaide players. Image: Jess Green.

PORT ADELAIDE fans braved the cold on Wednesday night at the AFLW team’s first open training for the year, and the first session under Alberton Oval’s new lights.  

For the first five weeks of pre-season, night trainings have been taking place at Karen Rolton Oval, while the four light towers have been installed and tested. 

The team also had the chance to don their new magenta training guernseys which, when revealed, were met with cheers of delight from the players. 

Fans were able to enjoy dinner and drinks at The Precinct while observing training and those who stuck around until the end, had posters and guernseys signed and snapped selfies with players.  

Operations manager Rachael Sporn said the players enjoy the consistency of training and playing in one place. 

“It makes a massive difference if you can train where you play and that’s not a luxury that everybody has so we can’t take that for granted,” Sporn said. 

“Because not every club has that in the AFLW, we think that gives us a bit of an edge.” 

Fan favourite Erin Phillips takes a snap with a fan. Image: Jess Green.

The lights will allow twilight and night games at the venue across both AFLW and SANFL, and also provide brighter, safer conditions for training. 

“It's a dream,” Sporn said. 

“The lights are magnificent, we always love being here, it's a real vibe. We just know that everything is in place here and everything is here that we need.  

“KRO was wonderful in the interim but this is our home and operationally, it makes life a lot easier. I’ve even got an app on my phone for the lights. I just love how automated everything is becoming and it's just more simplistic.” 

Sporn said the commitment from fans is truly appreciated by the players and may even push them a little further at training. 

“Good on them, hanging around until the end of training,” she said. 

“It means a lot to our girls and I’m sure they were running harder just then in their conditioning session because they’ve got people watching and I love that – it does motivate you. We know our fans love AFLW and can’t wait for it to come around again.” 

The AFLW fixture for 2023 will be released in the coming weeks.