If history leaves Port Adelaide any lesson for Saturday night's AFL preliminary final, it is be ready for a tight scrap.
This lesson - reinforced by last year's six-point loss to defending champion Richmond in the preliminary final at Adelaide Oval - has served Port Adelaide well in six matches decided by 13 points or less this season. This includes the most recent clash with Saturday night's opponent, the Western Bulldogs.
Port Adelaide midfielder Zak Butters has carried the pain from last year's preliminary final loss at home as a spur for victory in tightly fought contests this season.
"We have done a lot of work across a lot of sessions - watching a lot of vision - to put ourselves in the best possible positions to win those close games," Butters said on Tuesday. "As a team, we know what we have to do at those times. We know what is required of us in our roles out there.
"Everyone wants to step up in those big moments. We have taken pride in the resilience we have shown in tight games this year. There have been a couple of times when we could have lost - particularly when we did not have full-strength teams - and it could have been easy to say, 'We tried hard'. But we now tick those games off and the playing group has built up experiences we can take into finals if they are close games. That holds us in good stead."
Port Adelaide this season has beaten Richmond by two points at Adelaide Oval, Collingwood by one point at the MCG, Sydney by 10 points at Adelaide Oval, St Kilda by 13 points at the Docklands in Melbourne, Adelaide by four points in the second Showdown at Adelaide Oval and the Western Bulldogs by two points at west Melbourne in the home-and-away season closer last month.
Port Adelaide has not lost a game by six points or less this season - and has bitter memories of AFL finals decided by a goal or less in recent seasons, such as the preliminary final against Richmond last year (six points), the extra-time elimination final with West Coast in 2017 (two points) and the preliminary final against Hawthorn at the MCG in 2012 (three points).
Port Adelaide will have a major training session at Adelaide Oval on Thursday when selection will finally answer the lingering questions on the 23 to play in the preliminary final. There is a healthy list of 30 capable of claiming preliminary final selection.
"I would not want to be in that coaching panel at the moment," Butters said. "It is going to be a tough (selection meeting)."
For the second consecutive year Port Adelaide has reached a home preliminary final after beating Geelong in the qualifying finals - but 12 months later this is a difference.
"It is a lot different," said Butters. "Last year, it was Richmond after they had won two flags. And they were red-hot. This year, we are much more ready. As a playing group, we have improved a lot. There are heaps of little things that have helped throughout the year.
"We had a little session on Monday when we went over some stuff and noted how far we have come again. So we have a lot of confidence this year and believe we can do something special. We are very keen to get out there.
"If you look back to last year, it was the first finals experience for a lot of us younger guys. Probably half the team was in that way of first finals. There is more experience now. We know what to expect.
"We are more ready as well. After copping that loss last year, it hurt a lot and it became emotional after that. But we got back to work and used that pain as motivation to keep going ...
"You look back to 12 months ago and think this (campaign) started then."
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley made a key point during the round 23 clash with the Western Bulldogs that his players needed to focus on their game - and not the scoreboard that was not showing the rewards of a dominant game. A slow start and poor conversion hurt Port Adelaide in the first half.
"At half-time we had so many scoring shots (for a 1.8 return against 5.3 by the Western Bulldogs)," Butters recalled. "We didn't quite finish our work that day. You know within the first five or 10 minutes if you are on and playing the way you should be. And from there it is holding that momentum and keeping it for longer than the opposition.
"Playing the way we like to play gets everyone involved in the game and everyone knows when you are on. It is a really exciting thing to be a part of when play the brand you want to play."
