HAVING borne the brunt of some of the AFL's best attacking sides in the first five rounds, Port Adelaide's defence has held up reasonably well.
But that isn't good enough for a proud backline which is admittedly still "evolving" in the eyes of mainstay defender Matthew Broadbent.
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"It's something we've talked about, this inside-50 count going against us and how to fix it, because it's something we don't want going against us every week," Broadbent told portadelaidefc.com.au after Sunday's win.
"As a defensive group, though, we've held up pretty well and haven't given up too much score.
"We can take a positive out of that, even though we don't want to be giving up that count week in, week out."
Stemming from the middle of the ground, the Power conceded 17 inside-50 entries in the second quarter against the Crows, but applied a high-intensity pressure in defence to prevent what should have been a sizeable return for Adelaide.
Having been on the wrong side of a record inside-50 differential for a winning team against Hawthorn last week, and posting 10 more attacking entries in its loss against Sydney in Round 2, the Power has been part of some unusual offensive games at the Adelaide Oval this year.
It comes back to effective defensive pressure; as Broadbent was quick to note, absorbent defending is something Port needs to improve.
"You've got to play life or death in the back 50," Broadbent said.
"We probably just need to get better as a group at absorbing that pressure, considering the amount of ball that was coming down, but I think we can make oppo forwards earn their goals.
"We also need to get better at using it better out of defence so we don't get the repeat inside-50 coming back all the time.
"As a full side we need to work on that at training."
Overall, Port Adelaide's defence can take solace that it has seen off some of the most challenging sides of the competition in the first five weeks.
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Broadbent says his teammates continue to mature as a group, and will continue to work hard.
"Alipate [Carlile] has been amazing, he kept Roughead goalless last week, Walker to two goals this week," Broadbent said.
"With the help of Jacko and Hombschy as well, our key backs have really stood up.
"It probably wasn't Tommy Jonas's night tonight, but he's been really good to start the year overall, and Jasper has been great again, and Krak has slotted in nicely as well.
"We've played all together for a couple of years now, and there were a few years where we didn't have that.
"Now we've got game day experience under our belt, which helps, and the age and maturity of the group helps as well."
Port Adelaide plays the West Coast Eagles at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday 10 May at 4:10pm.
