PORT ADELAIDE coach Lauren Arnell has praised four-goal forward Julia Teakle as the ‘ultimate team player’ after her starring role in the side’s 40-point win over the Western Bulldogs on Friday.
Playing in wet conditions at the MCG, after the game was shifted from Whitten Oval to be played before the men’s Elimination Final between the Dogs and Hawthorn, Arnell’s side kicked the opening two goals inside the first five minutes and held firm throughout, eventually winning 0.6 (6) to 7.4 (46)
Teakle had three goals to half time and kicked another in the third term in a career-best showing.
Arnell said it was reward for effort for the recently turned 21-year-old.
“We love Teaks,” Arnell said after the game. “She’s the ultimate team player. Teaks is a forward who every single week plays her role, and in her role there’ll be weeks where she kicks four, and then 70 or 80 per-cent of games she plays she’d be lucky to get a shot at goal because all of her work is selfless.
“I think it’s really nice we can say she got a lick of the ice cream tonight from consistently playing her role.
“She works so hard. Every single opportunity she gets at Alberton to practice her goal kicking – she’s just been a master of her craft since the first day she walked in the door and the fact that she got to show that at the MCG.”
Off-season recruit Kirsty Lamb was the side’s other multiple goal kicker, booting two against her former side – a team with which she was a premiership player, best and fairest and won All-Australian honours.
While the dangerous Ash Saint was kept quiet, her fellow key tall Gemma Houghton kicked a goal to remember in the third term, tracking the ball at ground level and turning an opponent before using the outside of her boot to bend the ball home.
“We’ve got a whole group of forwards that play their role,” Arnell said of her forward threats.
“Justine Mules-Robinson, Caitlin Wendland is a first-year player for us who played a few games last year, Teakle, Saint, Houghton and we’ve got some mids going through there.
“I’m definitely pleased Teaks got to kick a bag tonight and in other weeks it’ll be others.”
More pleasing for the third-year coach was the maturity shown by her group and the response to last week’s season-opening Showdown loss.
“You ask them to get better each week and I thought we saw some more growth today,” she said.
“To win by 40 points and keep the oppo(sition) without a goal, obviously they’ve executed the plan really well and I’m really pleased.”
She now hopes the experience of playing and winning at the MCG will stand her side in good stead as it returns home to Alberton to face Fremantle next Saturday.
“It’s amazing for anyone,” Arnell said of her side getting to play at the ‘home of football’
“There’s a few boys out there (in the Elimination Final) who would have played a couple hundred games in their AFL careers and I don’t think you’d ever lose the excitement of playing at the MCG. It’s about as good as it gets.
“We love playing at our home ground, but this is incredible.”
The only disappointment was a potentially serious knee injury to captain Janelle Cuthbertson.
The experienced defender went down holding her already strapped left knee after a third-quarter marking contest and did not return to the field after receiving medical treatment.
“It doesn’t look great at this point,” Arnell said.
“There are concerns there… but it’s not looking great at the moment.”
Port Adelaide next faces the Dockers at Alberton on Saturday, 14 September from 4:05pm.
