PORT ADELAIDE co-vice-captain Janelle Cuthbertson is feeling right at home at Alberton, since arriving in South Australia just three months ago.
The All-Australian defender made the decision to move to Port Adelaide after four seasons at Fremantle, seeking a new challenge and a fresh outlook on her football.
Cuthbertson spoke to the Adelaide media this week, to discuss her decision to move, the team’s pre-season progress and immersing herself into the culture of the club.
Cuthbertson on her new environment
“Super excited, really happy to be here in Adelaide. I’ve been here a couple of months now. It's been a pretty seamless transition to come over from Perth and the club have really wrapped their arms around me and the girls have been great. It's been great to put in a big 12 weeks of pre-season and I can't wait to get stuck into games.”
Cuthbertson on her decision to move club
“A couple of reasons, reasons bigger than football. Football was one thing but it just ticks all the boxes for me in terms of new opportunity, new challenge. I was pretty happy in Perth and pretty comfortable but I like getting out of my comfort zone and looking at the program they've got here at Port and the girls and the coaching staff, I felt like it was an environment that I could really come in and thrive and hopefully make an impact toward the group and hopefully drive the club forward in future years.”
Cuthbertson on what she hopes to bring to the group
“For me hopefully, just a bit of experience. Coming over from Fremantle, I’ve been there for a few years. We've got a really young group here but super talented, really good characters so hopefully I can put some of my learnings onto the group and perform on the field as well and drive the group forward.”
Cuthbertson on her style of football
“I’m a bit of crash and bash. I've been a key defender for the last couple of years so I like to play that lockdown role but also pretty comfortable to come off and intercept. I'm still learning, I’m still growing as a player as well. I'm learning a lot off of these girls and they're actually probably teaching me a lot more than they realise.”
Cuthbertson on playing alongside Gemma Houghton again
“Really excited to be back with Gem. We played on each other a fair bit at training, which is really good. She's obviously one of the best forwards in the competition so she makes me better and we really challenge each other so it's been nice to link up again.
Cuthbertson on pre-season so far
“Pre-season's been great. We've really got stuck in over the last 12 weeks. There have been heaps of PBs out on the track and in the gym so that was a big focus for us coming into this season, to get fitter and be able to run out games. To the girls' credit, they really put their heads down and worked hard and it's paying off with the amount of PBs that have come out of it. It's been awesome.”
Cuthbertson on choosing football after having success in tennis
“It was something different. I’d never played it in my life, I didn’t even know the rules when I came into the game so for me, it was an opportunity to learn something new. I’d always kind of kicked the footy or kicked the soccer ball with the boys at school as a kid and I guess it was just a completely new challenge which was really appealing to me. And here we are, I didn’t expect probably to play at this level when I went down to the local club but I don’t regret anything and I love it.
Cuthbertson on playing an individual sport versus a team sport
“Very different, chalk and cheese, but that's what I love about it. Being in a team sport now, especially the last two years, I sat out last year a fair bit and missed a bit of football (due to injury) and I think it really gave me new perspective on the game and the team environment. I had so many good people around me that supported me last year and I guess that's really opened my eyes to what I can give to a team now and that's what I want to do. For me, it’s about these young girls we can bring through the program because they're the future of this club and they're outstanding. So it is very different in terms of how you approach games, but I love that (team) aspect.”
Cuthbertson on embracing the heritage of Port Adelaide
“I'm 110 per cent invested into this club and the history of it. I didn’t know much about Port coming into the program but the 12 weeks I’ve been here, I’ve learned so much about the history and the culture and like I said, they've really wrapped their arms around me which I’m really grateful for. You can just feel how rich it is and I can't wait for my family to come here and experience that on game day as well.”
