PORT ADELAIDE has completed its AFLW pre-season with a strong win over Melbourne at Alberton Oval.
The Power dominated the practice match after quarter time, booting seven goals to four from that point to record a ten point win 9.8 (62) to 8.4 (52).
The Demons posed a late challenge with three straight goals before Lauren Arnell’s side was able to arrest the momentum and hold on for a confidence boosting victory.
“In our pre-season trial games, the two of them, we certainly took the focus away from the scoreboard,” senior coach Arnell explained after the game.
“We wanted to make it about process and what we wanted to execute. That's what I'm most pleased about. I think a score (like that is) always nice, isn't it? But in reality, (the game) wasn't for four points, and so the process and how we went about it today was the most important thing, and that's what I am most pleased with.”
In warm but slightly overcast conditions at the picturesque Alberton Oval, Arnell’s side trailed by two goals at the first change but got on top in the second quarter, booting the first three goals to take the lead.
The Power was never trailed from there.
When Olivia Levicki found herself in the goal square on the end of an awkward bouncing centred pass by Gemma Houghton and booted a close range goal, Port had a nine-point advantage at half time.
The first two majors of the third quarter had the Power in front by 21 points before the Demons responded with the next three.
Pleasingly the Power had eight individual goal scorers until Ash Saint booted her second of the contest in the last quarter to halt the momentum. The newly elected member of Port’s leadership group was playing against the side that originally drafted her in 2019.
“What we saw today is a sign more of what has happened since November last year and putting a full stop on our season last year, none of us were satisfied with where it was at,” Arnell said.
“There were some really clear messages to the playing group around what we needed to achieve in the off season before the preseason even started and I think watching the fitness levels when we were up against it in that last quarter, and being able to execute when we'd lost momentum, I think, is a real sign of growth and maturity for us.
“And you can't get that done without doing the hard work over summer. So that's a big tick for the group.”
Port Adelaide will have next weekend off before returning to Alberton to face the Crows in a season-opening Showdown on the night of Saturday, 31 August.
Limited tickets are still available for that AFLW Round 1 game.
SCOREBOARD
Port Adelaide 2.0 6.3 8.6 9.8 (62)
Melbourne 4.0 5.0 6.1 8.4 (52)
Goals: Saint 2, Stewart, Wendland, Houghton, Mules-Robinson, Levicki, Syme, Borg
