PORT ADELAIDE has escaped "no man's land" of the AFL premiership ladder - those spots just outside the top eight - to build a sustainable top-four squad. And the rise has come without needing a major rebuild from the lowest depths of the table.

From consecutive 10th placings in 2018 and 2019, Port Adelaide has advanced to consecutive AFL preliminary finals. And the path to this upper echelon of the 18-team national league will bring more focus on the list-management work of Jason Cripps and football chief Chris Davies.

Since the revival began under senior coach Ken Hinkley's watch in 2013, Port Adelaide has worked three phases of list management in nine years - and never ranked lower than 10th. In all but one (2016) of the nine seasons, Port Adelaide has had "winning seasons" - more wins than losses.

So how did Port Adelaide build an AFL premiership contender without falling to the bottom-four of the ladder to claim prime draft picks?

Port Adelaide will draw attention for its use of free agency, critical trades that answered key needs - such as All-Australian defender Aliir Aliir and specialist forward Orazio Fantasia this year - and strong draft choices. The strategy has worked every element of the AFL system rather than relied heavily on one concept.

"The group has come together over a period of time exactly as Ken and I and others had been saying - and few people believed," says Davies of the Port Adelaide line-up that lived a "squad mentality" to overcome injuries through the second half of the season.

"We don't get everyone right," adds Davies of the recruiting strategy that still needs to deal with some speculative calls, particularly at a draft where some players have been held up by COVID wrecking junior development paths during the past two years.

"Just because we are in the position that we are, (don't think) we think we are doing things exponentially better than others. We are in a fortunate position right now.

"But clearly Jason Cripps, as our list manager, does a fantastic job in identifying the types of players that we want to get into the club. Our playing group do a great job in assimilating those guys into our playing group.

"Our coaches work hard on making sure those players have an understanding of how we want to play our footy. 

"Our club does a great job of making sure the players are aware of the history they are stepping into. It is something we have over a whole group of clubs - that history and people with a great deal of experience in success at our club. 

"And then you have a supporter base who know exactly what they are seeing; they are strong with their views but they support us. 

"It is a whole-of-club thing. It is not just about individuals coming in and playing well. It is about how you get a new player to be part of your club. And I think we have done a pretty good job of that."

The profile of the 23 who beat finals-hardened Geelong in the qualifying final at Adelaide Oval on Friday night is -

DRAFTEES

First round: Miles Bergman, Travis Boak, Zak Butters, Xavier Duursma, Todd Marshall, Sam Powell-Pepper, Connor Rozee and Ollie Wines.

Second round: Riley Bonner and Willem Drew.

Third round: Darcy Byrne-Jones.

Fourth round: Karl Amon and Robbie Gray.

Rookie list: Dan Houston, Tom Jonas and Peter Ladhams.

TRADES

Aliir Aliir (Sydney), Ryan Burton (Hawthorn), Charlie Dixon (Gold Coast), Orazio Fantasia (Essendon)

FREE AGENCY

Scott Lycett (West Coast) Steven Motlop (Geelong) and Trent McKenzie (Gold Coast).