Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell expects a couple of changes to her side for what is likely to be a hot contest this weekend against St Kilda.
Both the Power and the Saints are searching for their first win of the 2023 NAB AFLW season, with Arnell’s group seeking to unlock a high-pressure, highly-contested style of football on Sunday.
Arnell spoke to the media on Thursday to discuss the first two games of the season, what she expects from St Kilda, and who will come into her extended squad.
Arnell on St Kilda
“(I expect a) a hot contest. It's an area for us we want to make sure we bring on the weekend. We obviously played them here about a month ago in a trial game and we had a nice little start against them and I'm sure they weren't too happy about that, so it will be a hot contest. I think we expect a similar type game, it was pretty good conditions from memory.”
Arnell on the first two weeks of games
“I think it's been really challenging the first couple of weeks for us coming up against some really good sides. The main focus for us coming out of the Crows game was that we felt like our contest and our pressure was okay against a really good side in Round 1 and then at times when the pressure was really on us the other way, we fell away a bit from our offence.
“We knew we'd be under a fair bit of pressure against the Lions, they're an excellent team, they showed that, but being able to execute offence and be brave in situations when you're really under the pump. Overall we didn’t put as much score on the board as we would have liked, (but) our team really tried to open up offence against high pressure. So the next layer of that is you've got to win the ball, you've got to win the contest to open up your offence so it's a heavy focus for us. I think for us it's all about growth every week and certainly we'd love to be winning so we'll do our very best on the weekend.”
Arnell on Round 3 selection
“I think being a Sunday we can name a squad of 24 and the extended squad will include some players that have certainly performed over pre-season and have been really good in some extra match scrimmage games for non-selected players around the country. So that includes Katelyn Pope who's played for the (West Coast) Eagles before and has been more of a mature addition to our group, Maddy Keryk who's (been at) Carlton, Geelong, and now us, another really mature addition to the group, and Jade De Melo who played a handful of games for us last year. So there's a little bit there and no doubt a couple of changes for us.”
Arnell on Maria Moloney
“Moloney as well is freshly available for us, so she'll come into the extended squad also. Maria's obviously a really mature head, on and off field and we were really disappointed to have her unavailable in those first two weeks of the season. She hasn’t missed a beat all pre-season, had a minor ankle (injury) in the last few weeks but with her experience and the way that she goes about it as a selfless team player and really does bring the contest that I'm talking about, I'd be pretty happy to be able to bring her back in.”
Arnell on Matilda Scholz’s Rising Star nomination
“Yeah, it’s really cool. I think she plays with real confidence and has a level of humility about her off field so I think to get a nod like that pretty early in the season will hopefully build some more confidence for Matilda and certainly (there was) some excitement from her teammates, they're really pleased for her, and so are we.”
