HOW much has Port Adelaide improved - to be an AFL premiership contender - in the past year? 

By plenty.

On the scoreboard, the exact measure is 27 points - the difference between the 43-point win against Geelong in the qualifying final on Friday night and the 16 points at the finish in the same match at Adelaide Oval last season.

On the team grid, Port Adelaide is much, much better by the inclusion of All-Australian centre half-back Aliir Aliir as the intercept master and goalsneak Orazio Fantasia.

On the whiteboard with the Xs and Os of the playbook, the gameplan that Port Adelaide has been building, building and building week by week this season is capable of tumbling a finals-hardened unit such as Geelong into basic errors by panic or poor judgment or slow reading of the options out of defence.

What will those who have refused to rate Port Adelaide - even while Ken Hinkley's injury-tested team crafted the best win-loss record after the mid-season break - need to see now?

Port Adelaide has not only beaten a genuine top-four team, but one of the AFL's strongest measuring sticks of the past decade. 

And, on a night that was perfect for blitzing away some well-worn question marks, Port Adelaide won the first quarter - by 10 points and with sounder conversion at goal (4.3).

So what is the knock on Port Adelaide now?

"We are more experienced; we are better prepared," said Hinkley after guiding Port Adelaide to the preliminary final for the third time since the revival began at Alberton under his watch in 2013.

Port Adelaide conceded to Geelong only one more behind than in last year's shorter qualifying final (5.13/5.12). 

Port Adelaide doubled its scoring shots (26 compared with 13) on last year's qualifying final.

And it looked far more imposing - creating greater pressure - at the ground contests, in the aerial duels and in those critical 50-50 moments that become part of AFL finals folklore.

Such as key forward Todd Marshall harassing Geelong defender Lachie Henderson to create a spill in the south-eastern pocket to have the spill become Port Adelaide's first goal off the boot of Steven Motlop.

And fellow key forward Charlie Dixon doing the same to Henderson in a marking contest early in the second quarter while Geelong sought to switch play from east to west at the northern end to again finish with Motlop scoring a goal.

The most remarkable note from this final is Port Adelaide did not register a centre clearance until the first bounce of the last quarter (that finished with Fantasia's fourth goal). But building the play from a kick behind the centre clearance is so much easier when the rebound begins from an Aliir intercept. There were 11 of these on a night that replayed the highlights reel from Aliir's commanding aerial performance that secured his Showdown Medal earlier in the month.

Port Adelaide has clearly improved its defensive read by conceding just 3.3 (rather than 12 goals as it did in round 13) to Geelong's triple-threat in attack of Tom Hawkins (2.1 against Trent McKenzie), Jeremy Cameron (1.2 against Tom Jonas) and Gary Rohan (0.0).

Port Adelaide is definitely running deeper in its very flexible midfield by the significant input of Karl Amon and Willem Drew. But it is hard to ignore the influence of the power pairing of vice-captain and now All-Australian Ollie Wines and former captain Travis Boak (65 touches as a partnership with each player delivering 16 contested possessions on the barometer that again underlined Port Adelaide's win - 134-128 in contested possessions).

The Port Adelaide that was written off before the mid-season bye because it was not beating the early pacesetters has proven again that the AFL premiership race is about achieving an ideal position at the end of the 22-game marathon during the minor round - and then charging.

The Port Adelaide team that was mocked three weeks ago after being gripped to a four-point win against a 17th-ranked Adelaide - a team that lives on frustrating rivals at the contest - has won its first final with a ruthless streak by increasing the margin at each break, 10 points, then 29, 35 and finally 43.

The stark contrast of how assertive Port Adelaide played this final - and how Geelong was turned into a fumbling, hesitant rival tumbling into greater uncertainty - tells how much Ken Hinkley's team has improved in the past year.

That puzzle of moving from "good" to "great" was tougher to complete while key pieces were lost during June and July by injuries that loaded up the medical rooms and some hospital wards. But now that Hinkley is working with an almost complete deck of cards - and has a fortnight to prepare for a home preliminary final - the transition from contender to genuine premiership challenger is harder to ignore. And it is certainly tougher to deny.

That extra time will be useful in deciding how to re-introduce Rising Star forward Mitch Georgiades after the teenager is cleared of his hamstring strain. Three tall forwards (and which three?) or four while Dixon, Marshall and support ruckman Peter Ladhams are contributing so much?

Port Adelaide is guaranteed a top-four ranking for the second consecutive season. It also is assured more kudos in the lead-up to the preliminary final that will involve one of Melbourne, Brisbane, the Western Bulldogs and Essendon.

There are still two more steps in this chase for greatness - "and," says Hinkley, "the opportunity still needs to be maximised".

But there surely cannot be any doubting that this is an improved Port Adelaide.