It is often said that the good teams can win when they aren’t playing well, and Port Adelaide was far from its best against Brisbane. Overwhelming favourites heading into the round three clash, Power coach Ken Hinkley predicted the match would be a test for his team. After being outworked in the second quarter, and trailing by 11 points at the long break, the Power was able to move on from its sub-par opening and find another gear to deliver a match-shaping third quarter in which it scored 7.1 to 2.2, eventually holding on to win by five points.

A little over six months ago, the Power had a heart-breaking loss after the siren in extra time of the Elimination Final against West Coast. In shades of that loss, Brisbane had the ball camped in its forward 50 for much of the last quarter on Saturday and kept Port Adelaide goalless. Yet the Power seemed to have a new strategy for dealing with the late pressure and found a way to grind out an important, if not memorable, win.

After just 21 disposals in the first two rounds, the Power was hoping a match against his old club would spark a breakout performance by Tom Rockliff. The former Lions captain kicked a third-quarter goal and collected 19 disposals at 74 per cent efficiency. After an interrupted pre-season, Rockliff showed signs that he isn’t too far off a big game in the black, white and teal.

Brisbane does not like playing in Adelaide. The Lions have played at Adelaide Oval six times and have yet to taste victory. Saturday’s five-point loss was by far the closest they have come, with the three previous meetings between the sides at the venue seeing Port win by an average 77 points.

Sam Gray is one of the most improved players on the Port Adelaide list. The small forward bobbed up with three vital goals to go with nine marks and 21 disposals. Crucially he was composed when the pressure was hot, showing he belongs at AFL level and is equally comfortable being a stay-at-home forward or making a midfield cameo.

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