Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell says belief remains in the group to attack the last two games of the NAB AFLW season, following the side’s thrilling draw against Gold Coast on Saturday.
Arnell was pleased with the improved accuracy around goals, and the ability to stick it to a more established side in the Suns, bit admits there is always room for growth and learning.
Arnell spoke to the Adelaide media on Thursday about the feeling following the draw, taking on the Hawks this weekend, and her surprise personal news from earlier in the week.
Arnell on the draw
“We're filthy on the draw because I think even Cameron Joyce the Suns’ coach said we'd done so much to earn that win and the feeling I know the group can have when you get that win in 10-round seasons and being a second year team, it's been really challenging obviously in that space for us. Missing out on the win is one thing but the attitude in our group is always one of learning and growth and a reasonable amount of positivity, (but) we are flat on the fact that we gave that one up. (While) wins and losses as a second year expansion team can’t be everything, we feel again some frustration around that ledger.”
Arnell on belief in the group
“When you talk about belief, I think the main thing you take out of that game is it's the most consistent we’ve been as a group. The last few minutes of the game is not something that’s easily reflected on but it’s something that we certainly do. So, if we miss belief off the back of drawing with the sixth-placed team when we're sitting 17th, I think if you don’t take belief out of that you're kidding yourself.”
Arnell on scoring accuracy
“Scoring has been a big focus for us since last year…a big area for us off the last few weeks has been accuracy and we dropped a couple of games we felt we should have won off the back of some pretty poor accuracy in front of goal. So to kick seven goals three against the sixth-placed team in the comp who have shown real growth and maturity, that certainly builds belief in our team.”
Arnell on taking on Hawthorn
“The Hawks are obviously at the same point as us in terms of expansion. We're really looking forward to it regardless and what we do know is they're the number one tackle team in the comp so we're expecting a really high-pressure, hotly-contested game. (We will) continue to use all the available time that we have to build on what our game style is and we do feel we've seen some good progress in that.”
Arnell on Julia Teakle’s progress
“Teaks has grown so much. I spoke pretty openly post-game on the weekend around how she went home to Perth for a bit around the back end of last year for the off season and she had a pretty frustrating first year as an AFLW player and she had some pretty upfront feedback from me. She probably had two or three players ahead of her to make it into the side last year, and certainly didn’t play every game. That was pretty big for a 19-year-old kid to come from Perth and hear that and know that you're still a distance away from playing regular footy. So to come in and absolutely earn her spot in Round 1 this year and then have a four-week footy injury and that was her second game back, that was significant growth for a kid from Northampton in WA. We're really pleased with how she's been this year and she really sets the tone for that group of players and that age group in our team who can certainly learn from that approach that she took 12 months ago.”
Arnell on playing against established teams
“We perform at the highest level because we want the challenge. I spoke last week around why would we ever shy way from playing against the best and one positive about our fixture this year is we’ve had every opportunity to play against the best teams outside of Melbourne so I think again while the wins and losses don’t reflect the growth that we can see, there is still huge room for growth in our group, I think you just take a level of positivity that you've got opportunities to perform against the better teams and really test yourself and get a really clear understanding of where the growth is in our group.
Arnell on Kane Cornes’ comments on radio
“Kane is a 300-game player for our footy club and I think he's a four-time best and fairest and premiership winner…I think he said he came to the game, that's great. We welcome any level of critique and media scrutiny in this competition, it's season 8 now and I think if anyone in the media feels like they're held back by whether they can or can’t make comments on games, I'd encourage them to do so and continue to come to games. For us, there's frustration there, there's growth, what we didn't achieve in the last couple of minutes in a game-like scenario that we have trained so many times and our players have shown real understanding but (it was) just lack of execution. We’re all in that together but if there's anyone in the media feeling like AFLW is not accessible or that they can't critique our game or add value in the media space and continue talking about it, I think there's missed opportunity so I'd welcome it.”
Arnell on her surprise wedding earlier in the week
“It was a very quiet occasion on Monday afternoon but really special for my partner and myself so it’s been a big week so far and looking forward to the game on the weekend. We've been engaged for two-and-a-half years and with a baby on the way and a whole range of other things, my partner actually coaches, she's the senior coach of an SANFLW team so their pre-season kicks off next week so we had to squeeze it in somewhere. It's been a good week so far.”
