SENIOR coach Ken Hinkley himself labelled it as “ugly footy”, but was pleased with his side’s ability to grind the game out and secure the four points in tough conditions.
Playing at Cazalys Stadium in tropical far north Queensland, Hinkley’s side trailed St Kilda all night until midway through the last quarter.
St Kilda booted the first three goals of the game but Port Adelaide responded by kicking five of the last six goals of the low-scoring affair.
It was Robbie Gray's hurried shot from beside the boundary for a behind with 31 seconds left on the clock to secure the 5.13 (43) to 4.18 (42) win.
In wet and slippery Cairns conditions, both sides had to grind the game out.
“Someone was going to be unlucky to lose in the end,” Hinkley admitted.
“I was just so pleased for our boys they showed enough fight to keep going after the first quarter when St Kilda got a bit of an advantage.”
“We played some pretty strong, ugly footy I would call it. That’s what you have to play at this time of year (in Cairns).
“We enjoy coming up here, getting here was a bit of challenge for us but we got here and now we get to go home pretty happy because we got the four points.”
After suffering marginal losses to Adelaide (4 points) and Carlton (3 points) earlier this season, Hinkley well and truly knows the impact of tight games.
Port Adelaide’s head coach was pleased his sides’ hard work was rewarded by being on the winning side of this encounter.
“It’s a small margins game. We have lost two games by less than a kick, and now we have won one.” Hinkley said.
“When you are in tight games they can make a massive difference, if you keep turning up you will you will probably get one go your way at some stage.
“We worked pretty hard to get this win and get things going.”
All-Australian duo Ollie Wines and Aliir Aliir both had stand out games against the Saints recording 27 disposals and 14 intercepts respectively.
Hinkley was pleased to see the pair back to playing strong footy after interrupted seasons so far.
“Ollie has been building, he’s had some interruptions with a significant issue with his heart so he’s been fantastic for us with the way he has started to build.” Hinkley said.
“Aliir has had a significant injury with surgery already this year, he’s taken a little while to get going and get back.
“Clearly, we are a better team when Aliir is in our team, but more so when we defend as a group. We defended as a group tonight and Aliir gets to mop up a bit of that work.”
