AFTER a close first quarter between the Gold Coast and Yartapuulti, the latter extended their lead throughout the contest to crush the Suns by 34 points.

With the Power’s fifth consecutive win, the side is staring down the prospect of playing finals football for the first time. When asked about the game, Lauren Arnell was nothing but complimentary of her side.

“Honestly, I feel like it was a whole ground effort, they really challenged us in that first quarter,” Arnell stated. “They literally threw the kitchen sink at us, their pressure factor was exceptionally high.

“I think in our group we’ve talked about it a lot, it is our fitness that we’ve been working on for such a long time. The message was at quarter time, to keep going at our game and attack it aggressively because we feel like the work we’ve done on our fitness, we’d be able to sustain it even in what is warmer conditions than what we’re used to.

“I was just pleased that we were able to execute our game style for most of the game under what was initially really high pressure.”

In the emphatic win, it was the work of a trio of young defenders that caught Arnell’s attention. In her first game as a defender, utility Sachi Syme was impressive with 11 disposals, three marks, and 195 metres gained, with her composure and effectiveness noted.

Alongside Syme were off-season signing Teagan Germech and stalwart in the back half, Amelie Borg.

“Our tall defenders, mainly Amelie Borg and Teagan Germech, they’ve been exceptional all year and probably don’t get the recognition that others do in our side,” she said.

“Sachi Syme was one that’s been a midfielder largely and spent a bit of time forward, and we’ve actually challenged her this week to go back and play as a defender for the first time.

“She was exceptional in her ability to win the footy and read the ball really nicely, so I’m really pleased with her first game as a defender.”

Another consistent performer in Arnell’s team is last season’s club best and fairest winner Abbey Dowrick. She had the most touches by a Yartapuulti player, along with four clearances as well as a goal.

“I think honestly Abbey’s had a really good year and even last year she won our best and fairest, so I think she’s just starting to realise what she’s capable of in this competition,” Arnell continued.

“She’s been super diligent and there’s been enormous growth for her particularly in the off-field space so I’m stoked for her.

“I think one good element of Abbey is she’s always searching for what’s next in how she can be better and I think the group is leaning into that as well.”

Kicking two goals in her first game for the away side, Jo Miller enjoyed a taste of her home state while playing for the opposing team. Signing onto the Power’s list in the final stages of the preseason, she earned her first goal with her first kick at the level.

“Honestly, it’s so special for Jo, she came onto our list as late as you possibly could, I think it was the last week of inactive signings, replacement signings,” she said.

“To have Jo, who’s from Brissy, her family is here, she played a bit of QAFLW footy for Coorparoo [and] went to Darwin to keep getting footy under her belt.

“She initially was a triathlete and then came to South Australia and got some games under her belt playing some pretty good footy for Glenelg so it feels like a little while for her but it’s such a quick turnaround to get to this level.

“[For her] to take her opportunity, I thought [it] was something really special for her and her family and our group.”

One statistic asked about post-match was the lack of uncontested football that Yartapuulti have had this season. Having 23 less uncontested touches than the Suns on Saturday, Arnell explained that her side doesn’t play in a way that is conducive to this style of play and thus will not worry about the opposition excelling in that space.

“There’s some external noise about uncontested possession and us not owning a lot of it and that’s just not our game style and it’s not something that overly bothers us,” Arnell said.

“I think if we give up uncontested marks, then that’s something we try and address but being a strong contested side and being efficient in getting the ball quickly to our forwards is something that works for us.

“At times it is interesting that people measure our uncontested possessions and say where we should be and where we shouldn’t be, it’s not our game style and it’s not the current strength of the group.

“Our measures are showing us that we are tracking the way that we’d like to play, the measures are where we’d like them to be.”