WHY does it seem the footy gods want to make Port Adelaide games more dramatic than they need to be?

Last week, the Showdown presented a rival amid significant crisis. This week, it is Carlton travelling away from the noise of an internal review that seems to carry the future of contracted coach David Teague.

And there is a club hero, former captain Marc Murphy, to honour in his 300th AFL game - and final outing for the Carlton Football Club, the team he opted to represent when father-son options could have taken him elsewhere (father John is a former captain and Hall of Fame inductee of the Fitzroy Football Club).

Beware opponents who know the best response - and release from emotional strains - when under pressure is on the football field.

As Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley noted last week: "We all understand what some of these moments can do for a team. It can galvanise you. It can pull you together. 

"When you haven't got too much going on that can make you feel comfortable, you can still play football together - so we need to be ready for their absolute best."

At least no-one should say Port Adelaide has coasted to September with false confidence built on easy wins - even if much of the supporter base would like to sit through a game without biting fingernails, reaching for Mylanta to soothe an uneasy stomach or thrusting the remote control across the lounge room.

Port Adelaide closes its home stand - for the home-and-away series, at least (COVID permitting) - at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon against non-contender Carlton in the penultimate round before top-eight finals.

Port Adelaide is seeking its first consecutive top-four finishes since its run of four straight between 2001 and 2004 and first 16-win season since 2004, with one game still to play before finals.

But it will be hard-earned by the strain of injury during the winter and the pride of fired-up opponents, such as Carlton this weekend.

"That is outside our control," Hinkley says of the footy gods' behaviour. "Last week we talked about what we could control and what we had to focus on. 

"We have a great opportunity this week to lock in a top-four position on the ladder. That has to mean a lot to us as a football club. 

"We respect that Carlton has a lot of things - that are outside our control - on the agenda. We know, after celebrating Travis Boak's 300th, what Marc Murphy's 300 milestone means to the Carlton Football Club. We respect that.

"This week means we do get (past another hurdle). First thing, you want to qualify for finals - we did that a few weeks back. Then you want to qualify as high as you can - and this week we get our chance to lock in a top-four position. Then next week (against top-four rival, the Western Bulldogs) we are hopeful of qualifying higher again (perhaps top two). But we need to get this week done first ....

"It is step by step and when the opportunities present, we try to maximise them. But things happen in this competition that don't go to script."

Port Adelaide beat Carlton by 28 points in round 5, on April 17, at the MCG. The barometer notes Port Adelaide lost the clearances 36-31 but won the contested possessions 135-141. The task of matching and beating Carlton's stoppage kings in Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps is eased by a deeper midfield mix at Port Adelaide.

"The (rotations) are certainly back to what we had at the start of the year because of the players we have back in the side," Hinkley said. "Obviously, with Zak Butters back in the team and Robbie Gray and Connor Rozee moving into pretty good form and Xavier Duursma ...

"And we have grown (Rising Star nominee) Miles Bergman and that has helped us to add another string in the bow of that midfield.

"We have a lot of people who go through there. Willem Drew, Boak, Ollie Wines are pretty consistent. We have two rucks (Scott Lycett and Peter Ladhams) and we can potential use a third ruck (with Charlie Dixon or Aliir Aliir). We have a lot of depth through our midfield.

"And we need that because the competition demands you have to play for 120 minutes and you need people to be as fresh as they can be for those 120 minutes."

Port Adelaide will close its Adelaide Oval calendar with uncertainty on where and when matches will continue - or if the pre-finals bye will exist this season. But Hinkley has a simple theme: "Tell me where we play, when we play, and we will be there to play."

This week it is Adelaide Oval, 4.05pm Saturday.

BIRD SEED

(the little stuff that counts most)

Port Adelaide v Carlton

Where: Adelaide Oval

When: Saturday, August 14, 2021

Time: 4.05pm (SA time)

Last time: Port Adelaide 15.6 (96) d Carlton 9.14 (68) at the MCG, round 5, April 17, 2021

Overall: Port Adelaide 20, Carlton 13, one draw.

Past five games (most recent first): W W W W W

Scoring average: Port Adelaide 100, Carlton 90

Drawn game - Port Adelaide 15.19 (109) drew with Carlton 16.13 (109) at Football Park, round 4, April 16, 2005.

Tightest margin - Port Adelaide by three points (64-61) at the Gabba, round 7, July 19, 2020; Carlton by one point (104-103) at Football Park, round 23, August 31, 2013.

Biggest margin - Port Adelaide by 103 points (140-37) at Adelaide Oval, round 22, August 22, 2014; Carlton by 91 points (169-78) at Princes Park, round 6, April 15, 2000.

By venues - Adelaide Oval (3-0); Football Park (8-1-7); Princes Park (3-1); MCG (3-1); Docklands (2-4), Gabba (1-0).

By States - SA: 11-1-7; Victoria: 8-6; Queensland: 1-0.

HALFWAY through the second quarter on Saturday evening, the thought of an emphatic and significant percentage-boosting victory would have been the furthest thing from Port Adelaide's mind.

Then trailing a depleted Carlton side by 23 points, the priority for Ken Hinkley would have been helping his team claw its way back into the contest, not the possibility of a barnstorming 95-point win and the idea of setting up the ideal platform to work its way into top-two contention by season's end.

But such is the scoring power of the premiership hopefuls, and such was the sorry state of an undermanned and dispirited Blues side at the Adelaide Oval, that a remarkable run of 19 consecutive goals was inevitably around the corner.

Port Adelaide had 12 individual goalkickers and simply did as it pleased after half-time, holding Carlton without a goal for the final 84 minutes of the contest – and for the entirety of the second half – to bring down the curtain on another hapless Blues season, and almost certainly on the coaching tenure of David Teague.

Travis Boak (31 disposals, one goal), Karl Amon (30 disposals, seven clearances) and Ollie Wines (30 disposals, seven tackles) were among the best in the utterly dominant 21.14 (140) to 5.15 (45) win.

Charlie Dixon (five marks, four goals) did the bulk of the damage up forward, while Aliir Aliir (19 disposals, eight marks) was impenetrable down back.

But this was as much about a dismal Carlton afternoon as it was about Port Adelaide's show of strength. Even with an extensive injury list watching on from the sidelines, it was brutal and indefensible from the Blues.

And yet it didn't appear to be heading that way from the outset. Despite the weight it was carrying from a dark week for the club, it was actually Carlton who brought the effort and the intensity in the game's early stages. Marc Murphy, playing in his 300th and final match, had nine touches in the first quarter alone as the Blues shot into a surprise lead.

Port Adelaide looked a side desperate to be sparked into life and a quickfire double from Carlton youngster Josh Honey gave them that warning. The hosts' deficit was 23 points when it finally put together its strongest period of football for the half, stringing together six consecutive goals in the next 18 minutes.

That was a sign that the Power had gone to a new level and the Blues, for all of their early fight, couldn't cope with the increased tempo of the match. Where the visitors were once staring at a sizeable advantage to take into the second half, they ultimately trailed by 15 points at the main break.

After a relatively slow start by his lofty standards, Boak was the man helping to pick up the pace. He had a big say as Port Adelaide added four more unanswered goals in the third term, stretching its run to 10 straight majors as Hinkley's rampant side extended its lead well beyond 40 points.

The Power smelt blood in the water. It also sensed the opportunity to close a percentage gap on the in-form Cats that was shortening with every consecutive goal. Nine more majors, including a fourth for Dixon and a third for Robbie Gray, did just that and piled the misery on their woeful opponents.

As Port Adelaide eyes up the prospect of a home qualifying final – and potentially silverware by late September – Carlton is once again staring at a summer of turmoil.

Aliir builds his All-Australian case

If last week's Showdown Medal-winning performance wasn't enough to firmly put Aliir Aliir's name on the minds of the Therabody AFL All-Australian selectors, he continued his fantastic finish to an impressive first season at Port Adelaide on Saturday. Playing on Charlie Curnow, he once again used his innate ability to read the footy in flight in order to get in the way of virtually every Carlton foray forward. Aliir finished with 19 disposals, eight marks and 14 intercepts in yet another standout display. Recruited to the club in exchange for a future second-round selection last season, Aliir has now emerged as arguably Port Adelaide's most important player heading into this year's finals series.

It's 300 and out for Murphy

After a 16-year Carlton career, Saturday's clash was Marc Murphy's 300th and final game for the Blues. The former club captain put on a show early, winning nine disposals and three clearances in the opening term alone. He dovetailed nicely with a player he'd taken under his wing at Ikon Park, Sam Walsh, with the youngster collecting 30 disposals, five clearances and six tackles himself amid another busy afternoon for the fellow No.1 selection. Murphy's influence waned as the game went on, as did the impact of almost every Carlton player, as his night – and his career – finished in unwanted circumstances.

Lycett the only concern on Power's cruisy night

Everything went to plan after half-time for Port Adelaide on Saturday evening, except the loss of ruckman Scott Lycett to a worrying knee injury. Lycett appeared to tweak his knee in the second quarter, but lasted until the final change before he was eventually replaced by medical substitute Sam Mayes. In his absence, Peter Ladhams took the bulk of the ruck work. While the Power say Lycett's substitution was only precautionary, any injury is a concern heading into September.

PORT ADELAIDE    2.2     8.6     12.11     21.14 (140)
CARLTON                2.6     5.9      5.12        5.15 (45)

GOALS
Port Adelaide: Dixon 4, Gray 3, Marshall 2, Georgiades 2, Fantasia 2, Bergman 2, Boak, Lycett, Rozee, Ladhams, Mayes, Houston
Carlton: Honey 2, McGovern, Kennedy, Casboult 

BEST
Port Adelaide: Boak, Aliir, Amon, Wines, Bergman, Byrne-Jones, Rozee
Carlton: Walsh, Kennedy, Murphy, Dow

INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Lycett (knee)
Carlton: Cripps (quad) replaced in selected side by Durdin

SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Mayes (replaced Lycett)
Carlton: Petrevski-Seton (unused)

Crowd: TBC at the Adelaide Oval