JANELLE CUTHBERTSON has spoken of the honour and pride she feels at being named Port Adelaide’s captain for the 2024 NAB AFLW season.

A co-vice-captain in her first season at Alberton last year, Cuthbertson was voted in by her teammates to be club captain in 2024 as part of a four-person leadership group.

Justine Mules-Robinson has been voted Cuthbertson’s vice-captain, with Ange Foley and Ash Saint rounding out the leadership group.

Mules-Robinson and Foley were both part of the leadership group in the club’s first two AFLW campaigns, while Saint has been included for the first time.

Cuthbertson said while she had learned she was to be captain last week, it was not until she pulled on the iconic number one guernsey at training on Monday that the significance of the appointment sunk in.

Cuthbertson spoke at a press conference alongside senior coach Lauren Arnell on Monday, covering a range of topics to do with the leadership group, Arnell’s return from parental leave and where the side will improve in 2024.

Lauren Arnell on whether Cuthbertson was the obvious choice as captain:

“Nothing's obvious in our world. I think we've got some really strong leaders in our group, so you know, Janelle has been one of the group of key leaders in the off-season and the players have recognised that she is absolutely our captain this year.

“The older end of our group are really strong leaders and Janelle is one of those and so I know the first time we spoke, when we were even discussing the possibility of Janelle joining our football club, there was a really obvious maturity and understanding of the environment and what's required to be at your best, and a real desire to share that in a humble way with the playing group. I think when you think about generations and how you can lead what are mostly young groups across the competition, and particularly ours, that ability to connect with the younger player through care and guidance is crucial. And it's a really strong weapon of Jannelle’s.”

Janelle Cuthbertson on how it feels to be captain of Port Adelaide:

“I'm absolutely honoured to captain the Port Adelaide Football Club and I guess for me, a club so rich in history, such an esteemed club. I guess if I look back five years ago, when I got drafted to Fremantle, I can honestly say, I don't think I'd be sitting here five years later but for me being voted in by my peers, and by the playing group is really special to know I guess that they see you in that light and have that respect for you. For me, it's definitely across tennis and football, both of my careers is probably one of my proudest moments.”

Janelle Cuthbertson on whether leadership came naturally to her:

“I guess, over time, it's happened. Like as you get a bit older, and you look back and start to connect the dots a little bit - like the last five years haven't been easy with football and I've had a fair few challenges in that time. 2022 was probably a bit of a turning moment for me and I had some really good people around me in that year. I guess that shifted my mindset just around, the value that you can add to other people's lives and bring other people along for the journey. As I've gotten older, and I very much changed my mindset from “me” to “we”.

“We've got such a good core young group of players at this club and it's about how do we bring more along and bring them on this journey. I'm so excited just to see these girls grow and develop over the next couple of years and really see what we can take this program.”

Janelle Cuthbertson on filling the vacancy left by the retired former captain Erin Phillips:

“Look, it's big shoes to fill, I’m not going to deny that. Erin is an incredible athlete and an incredible person. And, she's really laid the foundations in the last two years, but I think I'd be doing myself a disservice if I was trying to be like Erin. I'll try and lead like Janelle and do my own thing and build on what she's laid in those last couple of years.”

Janelle Cuthbertson on how she found out she was going to be captain and how the news has settled in:

“I found out last week, I had a meeting with Lauren and Shane (Grimm). And I think maybe I was a little bit more prepared than I was last year moving to the vice captaincy role, but I still had no idea until I found out. There was always a glimmer of hope, I guess and I had that aspiration but yeah, I sat down in the in the office and they let me know that I was going to be the next captain. And to be honest, I don't actually know how I responded. I think I was a little bit speechless at the time. It probably took me a good 24 hours to process and really until this morning, this morning was the first day that I've actually put on the number one(guernsey). I think it really sunk in when I took it off the rack and put it on. It was a very special feeling.”

Janelle Cuthbertson on working with her vice-captain Justine Mules-Robinson and fellow leadership group members Ange Foley and Ash Saint:

“I'm stoked to have all three of them on board. We've worked really closely in the offseason with all three of them and bring varying levels of experience and characteristics, different personalities to the group. So, I'm so excited to work with them in the next couple of weeks and really kind of, I guess develop and pave how we want to build this team and keep developing it. But, we'll each bring varying aspects of what they bring to this team, which is really exciting.”

Lauren Arnell on returning to work following parental leave after the birth of her daughter:

“Marlie’s going really well. I think everyone says little children add perspective to your life and yeah, it's definitely harder to leave home now but it also makes when I'm here, I love it. I absolutely love being here. It feels like the best of both worlds at the moment. And the perspective when I get home and see a little smile is unreal, I love it.

“The girls have been great. I think we had almost the whole playing group come over through February and March to meet Marlie. It also means that without having a pregnant belly, I can be way more active at training and it's hopefully having an impact. I’ve got a lot more energy about me this year, to be fair during training sessions. And we were able to explore a few different options when I was pregnant and have the runner involved at training. This year, I can physically be out there and get amongst it, which has been, I think helpful so far.”

Lauren Arnell on where the side will be better in 2024:

“The evolution for our group is being able to compete better with the best teams. We've seen that in moments in our first two seasons as a team that for shorter periods of time, we can go with better teams. A big gap for us is our contest, our ability to win contest and maintain possession of the footy. Certainly against what was a really strong fixture for us last year, we got to see where we're at against the best teams and I think we saw a really obvious gap was contested possession and then our ability to win the ball back and then control it at different points in time. So, contest is a massive focus for us this year, and at the same time knowing that we finished 15th last year and our offense was ranked fifth in the comp for being able to generate score. So we'll sharpen that up again this year and hope to improve significantly on contest.”