Port Adelaide senior coach Lauren Arnell says her squad is in good shape ahead of its first ever AFLW Semi-Final this Saturday night. 

Preparing to take on Hawthorn, the playing group has taken confidence from its seven-game win-streak, with the growth and improvement since last year obvious to see. 

Arnell spoke to the media at Adelaide Airport on Friday about the importance of being process-driven, the belief among the group, and what she expects from the Hawks. 

Arnell on the squad ahead of Saturday night’s Semi-Final 
“I've seen both teams have no changes. And obviously that's a really good sign. Coming into this point of the year. You can see a lot of teams throughout this season have been impacted heavily by injury. And while we've got four ACLs on our list, and in particular, Janelle Cuthbertson, I think at this point of the year, for everybody else, we're in pretty good shape. We’re looking pretty good. I think you know, you'd expect every team that's still playing at this point in time to have a reasonable level of soreness, but that's footy. I think we're, we're in good shape.” 

Arnell on what to expect from Hawthorn 
“First time this year (coming up against them). We've lost to them in the last two years in some games of footy that didn't necessarily look like Port Adelaide footy. So yeah, I think the beauty of them this year is obviously Daniel Webster's come in and brought a much more aggressive style of offence into their side. And yeah, I love that. Both teams, us and Hawthorn, like to attack offence pretty heavily. So I think it should be an exciting game.” 

Arnell on the similar style of football between the two sides 
“Yeah, definitely. You can see both teams like to play pretty quick into their forward line, and they've got three pretty dangerous tall forwards as well. So I'm excited for the brand of footy that we should be putting out there on Saturday night. I think we have an absolute level of respect for every opponent that we play, and we're really pleased to be playing in week two of the finals in our third season in this competition. And obviously we've had a long winning streak now. I think it's equal to any other team in the comp this year in hitting seven. So there's some natural confidence in the group, but also an absolute level of humility and respect for the group that we're coming up against on Saturday in Hawthorn.” 

Arnell on the current form of her group 
“I think what we're seeing in our group is the more games we play, the better we get. And we've kind of always known that, and I'm starting to lose count, because the number’s growing, but I think we've played about 32 games as a team now, and that number matters, the higher it gets, and we're starting to see some continuity in the group. And you'd expect that with Hawthorn as well, they're on the same level of expansion as us. And yeah, each game is so valuable in this sort of continuity you can build in your group.” 

Arnell on the win over Richmond last weekend 
“Yeah, I was certainly really pleased with the style of footy we played under high pressure and against a really good team in Richmond, I think the level that we got to on Sunday at Alberton is finals footy, and it's something we've been building towards for such a long time now. And you know, we've copped some losses on the way because of that. And so to see the group perform really well in contest and also score heavily in our first ever final is exactly what we could have hoped for. And I'm looking forward to trying to play the same brand of footy on Saturday night.” 

Arnell on taking things one week at a time 
“We do have to stick to the process, and I know that's not going to give you guys any news grabs at this point, but we are about sustainable success. We definitely don't want to be the team standing here with happy confidence and being satisfied that this is our final and turn around next year and not be standing here at the same point in time. So it does need to be process driven, because we want to build sustainable success.” 

Arnell on the group’s belief 
“Yeah, it's interesting with such a short fixture in every year of AFLW, I've always sort of thought, even back when I was playing and the seasons were shorter, one win always felt like three or four and a loss always felt like three or four losses. And so to have seven wins now (in a row) and the belief and confidence building with that, it is really meaningful for a young side. And I mean, the reality is, we do have a young team, and they are maturing faster than probably what I could have hoped at this point of the year. So the next level and test of maturity is, can we play to the same level we did against Richmond on Sunday at home? Can we bring that level again against Hawthorn at Ikon Park on Saturday night?  

Arnell on the improvement over the last three seasons  
“Yeah, it has been really challenging in many moments. And you know, certainly the first two years of our team, you feel like you're in games at half time. And the lack of continuity and footy together, and the lack of fitness that was missing in the first two years, that takes time to build up, can become really frustrating. And if you allow that to take over, you don't get to this point. So I think I've had a lot of help and guidance from key people at the football club, particularly Chris Davies, in helping me keep my eyes up and not just down on one loss or two losses, in the previous two years, and really lifting my eyes onto sustainable success. And you know, that's why I can stand here really confidently and still talk about the process, because that's the most important part of what we're doing.  

Arnell on the confidence gained from winning 
“I think as a whole group, you know what you're working towards, and you have to have belief in what you're doing. But in reality, wins at a high performance level build far more confidence than losses. And so it does help enormously. And I think even just the togetherness and the trust within our group has grown enormously, because I think winning games of football against good sides, which we have throughout the year, it builds confidence for players to go to a whole other level. And we've seen that in the last few weeks, which is really pleasing.” 

Arnell on the preparation this week 
“Nothing changes, to be really honest, I think we've been a team that has travelled really well, particularly this year. And you know, we do have to travel every second week, and in the congested space even more so. And so, the travel is actually something that we enjoy. The group really enjoys spending time together. And even as a coaching group, we have our little coffee routine in the morning of the game, and those are things that we look forward to. So it doesn't faze us at all that we travel for this game.” 

Arnell on her three All-Australian squad members 
“Amelie Borg is hanging out to turn 20 on Sunday, but I'm hanging on to the fact that she's 19 years old still. So for Amelie and then Matilda and Shineah to all be named in the All-Australian squad of 42 is really exciting for them. But also, speaking to the group about it this week, it's a reflection of the level that the rest of the group trains to, because we can't see that level of development and growth in those individuals without obviously, the games help in playing against high quality opposition, but that is such a limited space for our group. So it is so important that our entire group, and that includes the non-selected players in this that we're all at a level in pre-season, in the off-season and during training, to help everyone get better.” 

Arnell on bringing her wife and daughter along to Melbourne for the Semi-Final 
“It’s honestly just really special. I'm a little bit nervous about Marlie getting on the plane. The girl's got lungs, so hopefully she enjoys the flight. She's also on the move constantly, a little bit too much like me, so see how she goes sitting still, and I know that she will absolutely enjoy being the centre of attention with the whole team over the course of the weekend, so it should be a lot of fun.”