WHAT a way to finish ...

Port Adelaide is in control of its destiny - and, in the best-case scenario, Ken Hinkley's team will start next month's AFL finals at home and without that oft-noted stain of being without a win against a top-four rival.

Like a marathon runner who has seen the infamous "wall" a few times - in the form of injuries - but not fallen nor surrendered, Port Adelaide has positioned itself nicely in what Hinkley calls a "test of stamina, endurance and commitment".

Port Adelaide has won 10 of its past 12 matches, often while testing the depth of its deepening squad.

The latest victory, that 95-point win against Carlton at Adelaide Oval on Saturday at the 21st-game marker, has set up an extraordinary and unusual teaser to September's top-eight major round.

Qualifying finals start early this season with a trailer in round 23: Port Adelaide away to the Western Bulldogs and Geelong against Melbourne to decide how and where these top-four teams are paired a fortnight (or, if the pre-finals bye is scrapped, a week) later.

At best, by beating the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne next week, Port Adelaide will command a top-two position and, for the second consecutive season, host a qualifying final at Adelaide Oval.

At worst, it is a qualifying final on the road ... a task that should not appear overwhelming considering Port Adelaide has won every match played in Victoria this season (two at the MCG and five at the Docklands in west Melbourne).

But back to the Carlton match that closed Port Adelaide's home stand at Adelaide Oval for the home-and-away series in which Port Adelaide has reached 16 wins for the first time since the AFL premiership year in 2004.

What a way to start ...

It seemed a "rinse and repeat" of the Showdown. Carlton coach David Teague spoke of how he was able to hear from the opposition huddle when Hinkley took issue with the Port Adelaide midfielders after they had lost the clearances 5-10 in the first term.

"We need to play an accountable brand of football," was Hinkley's paraphrased account of his edict after yet another lost first quarter in which Carlton had the last six inside-50s - and gave a prelude to its goalkicking yips with 2.6.

The message sunk in, even if it took 16 minutes and 41 seconds of the second term for the Port Adelaide midfielders to get the echo out of their ear drums.

"Their bigger bodies," said Teague in acknowledging the work of Port Adelaide midfielders Travis Boak, Ollie Wines and Willem Drew to "win the ball inside and spread" with the run of Karl Amon significantly changed the game.

First, Port Adelaide won the contests inside. Then it won territory with handball opening up invaluable space. Ultimately, it locked the game in the Port Adelaide forward half to make the match become a replica of a pinball machine. 

The final 17-11 advantage in centre clearances - four won by each of Wines and Drew - reinforces all that has been emphasised all year about Port Adelaide's barometer in contested football (again won, 159-120).

At 16:51 in the second term - when rookie-listed Carlton midfielder Josh Honey was enjoying his 15 minutes of fame with two of his three attempts at goal surviving score review - Port Adelaide seemed in trouble. The 23-point deficit was repeating the Showdown rinse.

From that point, Port Adelaide scored 19 goals - and conceded none. Carlton managed seven behinds whenever it cut past Showdown Medallist Aliir Aliir, who - as in the derby - continued his uncanny ways of commanding aerial contests like a huge net.

The 118-point turnaround leaves these notes:

BEST score (21.14) since the 22.13 against Fremantle in round 2, 2017 at Adelaide Oval,

BIGGEST winning margin (95 points) since the 103-point win against Carlton in round 22, 2014 at Adelaide Oval. This remains the club's record winning margin against Carlton.

And further confirmation that Port Adelaide's game is building at the right time of the year.

The four-tall attacking model continues to flourish - and proved reassuring with back-up ruckman Peter Ladhams able to step up (and show some deft tapwork at centre bounces) when lead ruckman Scott Lycett was benched during the last quarter out to concern for a hit he took at the top of his left knee in a centre-ruck contest in the second term.

A scorecard that reads: Charlie Dixon (four goals), Todd Marshall (two), Mitch Georgiades (two) and Ladhams (one) leaves a compelling case to persist while many scratch their heads wondering how Port Adelaide thrives in such a forest of tall forwards. Hinkley defines this theme as "potent". As Richmond great Jack Dyer always said, tall blokes don't get shorter as the game gets longer.

And when Marshall can sharply rove off Dixon's crumbs in the goalsquare - to start the goalkicking surge from the second term - there is less doubt about the dexterity of Port Adelaide's tall forwards.

"We do like the tall option," Hinkley says.

And now to the big question of the upcoming week: Will Port Adelaide claim a top-four scalp by beating the Western Bulldogs with a result that responds to the 19-point loss at Adelaide Oval in round 9?

"I get the question, I understand it ...," said Hinkley. But he is not weighed down by the past when Port Adelaide is commanding its destiny. "It does not matter," added Hinkley.

History is loaded with finals contradicting home-and-away results. Most significant is how Port Adelaide has found more and more along this return to a 22-game marathon home-and-away season with 20-minute quarters again.

Maturity and the presence to stay calm rather than panic, notes Hinkley - and anyone who saw Port Adelaide's four quarters in the Showdown and first two terms against Carlton.

These will be premium qualities to fulfil destiny in September.