PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Brett Montgomery has delivered a blunt assessment of his side’s pre-season loss to the Gold Coast, saying it was outhunted, out-bodied and outrun and failed to take its opportunities in front of goal.

The Suns broke the practice game open with a six-goals-to-one first quarter as a wasteful Port Adelaide outfit struggled to deal with the home side’s intensity at Metricon Stadium.

A second half fightback of sorts saw the margin cut from a game high 42-points in the first half to 21 at the final siren with the Suns winning 11.10 (76) to Port’s inaccurate 6.19 (55).

Midfield coach Montgomery said the inaccuracy was only a small reason for the loss.

“I wouldn’t even bring (inaccuracy) into our conversation,” he explained after the game. “We were completely outhunted early, out-bodied and even outran to begin with.

“If we were stepping through the game from start to finish, I thought we started reasonably well. I thought it was two teams having a go.

“We didn’t make anything out of our opportunities, which I think disheartened a few of our guys early and they made the most of their slim opportunities but from there they just took control.

“Maybe it was a reality check around game intensity. The difference between training intensity and game intensity can always be quite a significant shift and I don’t think we found anywhere near that shift, particularly in the first half today.

“But what we did see, we saw (the Suns) being ready to play and they found AFL intensity very quickly.”

Port Adelaide’s coaches would have been pleased with some of the work in the middle by forward-turned-midfielder Zak Butters who was busy all day, while Brownlow Medallist Ollie Wines toiled hard in energy-sapping humidity and blustery winds.

Montgomery said overall the side was sloppy, wasteful and failed to execute in possession.

“We were just wasteful. Whether it was by foot not being able to connect or just blasting the ball forward and giving our forwards no advantage and nothing that resembled any clean ball,” he explained.

“Even around the ball, our handball skills were just not at the level and largely due to (the Suns’) heat.

“A lot of credit has to go to the way they turned up. They came here looking for a really tough, inside the contest arm wrestle and perhaps we didn’t.”

It was not all doom in the Port Adelaide camp with untried ruckman Sam Hayes continuing his 2021 SANFL best and fairest form in his first game against AFL opposition.

Hayes got plenty of game time because senior ruckman Scott Lycett was taken off as a precaution early in the second half after the big man rolled his ankle.

Hayes displayed some clever tap work and covered the ground well as he looks to push for an AFL debut.

“I thought Sam had some good moments,” Montgomery said of the 22-year-old. “He probably lacked a bit of connection with players – I’m talking senior players here – around stoppage that he hasn’t spent any meaningful game time with so I think he found that a challenge.

“Some of his tap work didn’t turn into anything near the reward we would have hoped and he would have expected so there’s some work for all of us to do there.

“He got around the ground better than perhaps people have given him credit for in the past so the challenge is for all of us to make sure Hayesy is ready (to play AFL football).

“The reality is that he sits second in our ruck category and he needs to be ready. We’ve put a mountain of work in, he’s put a mountain of work in and his SANFL form has been good so if an opportunity comes up, I think he’ll be ready.”

There were other positives too with youngsters Butters, Jed McEntee and first-year midfielder-defender Josh Sinn showing their talent.

“When you look at a guy like Josh Sinn who has played five or six games in a two-and-a-half-year period and he comes out and plays his first game against men, which was a pretty physical contest too, I might add,” Montgomery said of the 19-year-old.

“He was a positive... and I thought he held up well.

“We gave some opportunities to guys who have maybe not been played in their primary role. We had some guys who went inside and did some different things.

“I think you would have seen Zak Butters around the ball… a slightly different look for him and one that snuck up on us a bit was Jed McEntee’s reliability in front of the ball.

“In a game that really required you to stay in the contest for longer due to the conditions and the heat from the other team, I thought he was up for it after sitting out for a half.”

There were some injury concerns out of the game with Sam Powell-Pepper sitting out the second half after suffering a hamstring injury and Connor Rozee and Lycett being withdrawn after each rolling an ankle.

Port Adelaide will get a final pre-season hit-out next Saturday when it takes on rivals Adelaide at Richmond Oval in the AAMI Community Series.