Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has hailed the continued growth of his side following Friday’s gutsy 10-point win over Melbourne.
The Power trailed at every change and conceded big advantages to the Demons in inside 50s (68-39) and clearances (54-38) but managed to mow down the Demons in the final term and in doing so leapfrogged them into fourth spot on the ladder.
According to Hinkley, it was the type of match that Port – which trailed by 20 points in the third quarter – would have more likely lost in the club’s recent past.
“It (win) shows a fair bit of growth, I reckon,” he said.
“We’ve lost games like that, just in the last 12 months – and big games, where we’ve dominated entry and haven’t been able to put the score on the board.
“Melbourne had some dominance in the key stats like (inside 50) entries, clearances and contested possession but we had a willingness to stay there.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to find a way.
“It was our third game in a row on the big stage – Friday, Thursday, Friday – and we’ve won all three.
“There’s some big scalps amongst that.
“Crucial to the Power’s come-from-behind win were the performances of young midfield bulls Ollie Wines and Sam Powell-Pepper.
Recently re-signed Wines had team-highs of 29 possessions, eight clearances and five inside 50s while Powell-Pepper laid 17 tackles, a new club record and just two shy of the all-time benchmark (19) held jointly by Tom Liberatore, Jack Ziebell and Jude Bolton.
“He (Powell-Pepper) also had 94 pressure points,” Hinkley said.
“That’s just off the charts. That will be up there in the record books too, I would imagine.
“When it’s not your night, you just get your grunt going and you keep hammering and whacking in.”