Port Adelaide coach Lauren Arnell was measured and realistic after her team’s Preliminary Final loss on Saturday afternoon, with the Power’s first ever finals campaign coming to an end.
Taking her young side from 15th to top four in the space of a season, Arnell was particularly proud of the growth, but acknowledged the gap between the best side in the competition, and her own.
"Full credit to North, what a team,” Arnell said.
"For us, a 57-point loss in a prelim is not what you're after, but it gives us everything we need to know. We need to be well informed moving into the future, and I think we'll take some really strong lessons out of today."
After a dominant eight-goal first half for the Kangaroos, Port Adelaide kept them to four goals in the second half, while also generating more scoring shots than its opponent.
"Even at half-time, we swung a couple of things around again, and in particular our young crew, when we required hot contest and strong bodies over the ball, we saw a group of 18 to 21-year-olds who really stepped up, so I'm really pleased with that,” Arnell said.
“Obviously we didn’t capitalise on the opportunities we created (in the second half) but to be able to create those opportunities against what’s an incredible team in North.
“We are disappointed so let’s not miss that, but we also have a really clear understanding of where our gap is. I’ve been saying this quite bullishly that we don’t want to be a team that plays in prelims, we want to be pushing towards future success and I think this is the perfect scenario for us after our third season to be really well informed about where the gap is currently.
“I don't think anyone would argue North Melbourne haven't been the best side in the competition to this point in time, so I'm actually really proud we created the opportunity to play against them in a prelim.”
Arnell said there was plenty of internal growth to come from her young side, and indicated aerial contest was an area the Power could look to boost over the trade and draft periods.
"To be fair to North Melbourne, they look to be the complete team. Even when [Jasmine] Garner's not on the ground, they're still dominating stoppage, and their spread from contest to contest is exceptional," Arnell said.
"I think the gap from North to most teams – North have got some serious strength in the air, that we lack currently. There's a little bit of that, but also as we go into the first national draft, there's a few balls in the air that haven't been there previously.
"There's growth for us to come. It's only our third season, we've played about 34-35 games of footy together. So there's continuity as a team.
"Then there's simple stuff like North Melbourne looked so slick, simple contested ground ball, their kicking skills are exceptional under pressure, and that cohesiveness as a team takes time."
Arnell praised the attitude of her whole squad throughout the year, identifying it as one of the key reasons for its much-improved season.
“What I have just said to the group is North have lost, you can fact check me but I’m pretty confident they’ve lost a semi, they’ve lost a prelim and they’ve also lost a grand final. And we’ve just entered our first finals series and I think the attitude check for us is the most important thing.
“And to be really fair to our playing group and something we’ve been really proud of, is our attitude has been exceptional all year and I think is what has allowed us to be at this point.”
The W Awards takes place on Monday night, with Port Adelaide players nominated for Rising Star, goal of the year, mark of the year, and three people in the All-Australian squad of 44.
