PORT ADELAIDE’s AFLW side is looking forward to another road trip ahead of Friday night’s encounter with West Coast in Perth.
Lauren Arnell’s side travelled to Western Australia on Thursday morning and will go into the game against the bottom-of-the-table Eagles as a favourite with the bookies.
Speaking with the media at Adelaide Airport before departing, Arnell admitted it was a unique position for the Power in just its 15th game in the competition, but said the team was firmly focussed on controlling what it could.
The side will have a reshaped forward line with key target Ash Saint suspended and Indy Tahau to have surgery following a season-ending knee injury.
Lauren Arnell on the excitement of getting the team away together:
“I think just time together is crucial for us. Another opportunity to get away. Last time we went away was a fortnight ago and we had a strong win against the Saints so it’s always nice to get on the road with the group and we’re really looking forward to taking on the Eagles tomorrow night.”
Lauren Arnell on being favourite to beat the Eagles:
“Favourites are always something someone else decides and for us it’s all about contest tomorrow night and having respect for the opposition regardless of what the ladder says. We’re controlling whatever we can and everything else is beyond our control.”
Lauren Arnell on what she has taken from the season so far and in particular last week’s disappointing loss to Geelong:
“Definite positives. We won on the scoreboard in the second half after a first half we weren’t happy with. It was a bit of Jekyll and Hyde. We didn’t execute and we do think a lot of that is in our control, while we do have a lot of respect for Geelong who will be a top four or top five team this year.
“You take the positives out of the fact we’ve played the Crows, Lions, then Saints and then Geelong. For the four games this year you’re looking at three of the top five teams so what that means is we’ve played some really high contest, high pressure games. We don’t have the wins and losses on the board that would be nice at this point of the year but I think it prepares us well for the remainder of the season.”
Lauren Arnell on her side’s growth in its short existence:
“Certainly, the growth that we’re looking for, I don’t think I’m surprised. We’re bullish because our club is a really proud football club and we have great expectations on how quickly we’re going to develop in this space and also realistic expectations on what’s possible in a short space of time so coming into our 15th game of AFLW tomorrow night in our existence we also have high expectations of coaching staff and players to make good results happen and I’m pleased you guys in the media can see some growth, and importantly our playing group and our people at Port Adelaide – the members – our growth is good. Then you’re chasing results at the same time.”
Lauren Arnell on the knee injury suffered by Indy Tahau during last week’s game:
“Indy will have surgery today so it’s obviously disappointing to lose her with an ACL. Any injury is tough and that one, we know, in footy is unmatched with how hard it is to get through but Indy is a real positive person. She’ll attack this with a great mindset and we’ll get her through this as best as we can.”
Lauren Arnell on team selection in the absence of Saint and Tahau:
“We’ll obviously have a few changes to the team. Ash (Saint) being suspended and Indy being out will make our forward line look a bit different but it’ll create some exciting opportunities for some forwards who’ve been performing actually really well outside of AFLW opportunities.
“There’s been a couple of changes already this year. We don’t just need to look at immediate talent in this moment, we look at performance as well, and that’s a crucial part of us developing as well.”
