Port Adelaide co-vice-captain Ange Foley said her leadership qualities for a young playing group are never more important than after a loss.
After two defeats at the hands of classy outfits Adelaide and Brisbane, Foley and her leadership group are helping to pick their side back up, look ahead and remain positive.
Foley spoke to the Adelaide media on Tuesday about the importance of setting a good example, the tough start to the season and how the competition has changed since its inception.
Foley on the first two rounds
“What I've taken away is probably that we're capable, especially the Crows game. We got them on the back foot at times in the game and we’ve worked really hard on a lot of things in our off-season – fitness, contest, our offence and we really showed that against the Crows.
“Crows and Brisbane were what we expected, they're really experienced outfit. Brisbane were in the grand final last year and Crows have been really successful for a number of years so that's the bar, both of those teams. I'm confident that we can reach that bar. (We’re only in our) second year, we're happy with where we're at and that we can (work to) execute the style that those teams are playing.”
Foley on the importance of leadership after losses
“Absolutely, it's something we'll talk about today and we'll continue to ingrain into the girls because you're right, you do start lacking confidence if you get beaten by 50 points. Even during the game you get two or three kicked on you, that mindset is huge and you don’t get that until you're a more mature player (so) it's absolutely up to us older players to ingrain that in them but then also lead that on field as well and it's something we’ll continue to work on.”
Foley on the evolution of the competition
“I can just reflect on exposure to coaching and training at these kind of intensities and absolutely in 2017 (when the AFLW began), it was a bit of a shock to us – none of us had had an experience like that before. We've got 16 odd players who are just experiencing that now and they're their second season in and so under the guidance of some elite coaches and high training standards you absolutely see gains in everything, every aspect of your game and so that's something that we're seeing here in this team. I’m seeing growth.”
Foley on Matilda Scholz’s Rising Star nomination
“(AFLW) is a different ball game and for her to get the Rising Star this week, we’re super proud of her and her pre-season and what she can now start to execute as well. Matilda just wants the best out of herself, she asks lots of questions, she's a perfectionist, she wants to be the best player that she can be and we've seen huge growth. I've only really got to know her and be a teammate of her for the last three months and just the growth that I've seen, not only just in Matilda, but all of our first and second year players is huge and it’s a really important part of this club at the moment.”
