PORT ADELAIDE senior coach Lauren Arnell lamented her side’s loss at Frankston on Sunday, admitting they simply weren’t good enough in the contest against Hawthorn.
“Honestly, it's four quarters of not being good enough in the contest, it's not really (just) at the end,” she said.
“We train scenarios endlessly and I know there's been conversation about that last week but we do a lot of scenario-based training around the end of the game but if you go minus (19) contested possessions, that's four quarters of footy and we knew that was a crucial part of the game today and we didn’t get it done.”
It was a constant back-and-forth affair, with neither team ever really having the upper hand, until the Hawks kicked back-to-back majors in the last 12 minutes of the game.
“I think at times we were able to arrest momentum, but I think the wind caught up a little bit so obviously there's a scoring end there,” Arnell said.
“When we had opportunities in the last quarter to score against the wind, we lost composure and that's really hurting us this year so it's certainly frustrating at this point.
“If you drop contested possession minus (19), and you know that's going to be a crucial part of the game to win, then the morale's not going to be very good because you haven’t turned up.”
The Power’s ability to stick to their game plan has been an issue in patches of the season, with Arnell highlighting the want is there.
“We’ve got more than enough motivation in our group, what we’re missing is the ability to execute the plan at the moment,” she said.
“(I’m) currently frustrated…we work away at what we need to work away at, (but) we're not executing on game day so there's a lot of improvement required in that area.”
Rising ruck Matilda Scholz played her role with conviction, recording 34 hitouts in an enticing ruck battle against Lucy Wales.
“Matilda's shown some real natural talent this year and is certainly learning what it takes to get to the level every single week,” Arnell said.
“We're pleased with her growth so far and I have no doubt that there's so much more we haven’t seen yet that's there for her to unlock and we'll keep helping her do that.”
Port Adelaide will play GWS at home next Saturday, celebrating Pride Round and the club’s final game of the 2023 NAB AFLW season.
