PORT ADELAIDE is on the verge of the "5 and 5" that senior coach Ken Hinkley set up as an ambitious focal point after the horror 0-5 start to the AFL home-and-away season. And standing in the way of that parity on the win-loss ledger is Geelong ... and Kardinia Park.
Port Adelaide returns to Corio Bay - where it has not won since then captain Dom Cassisi scored the match-winning goal in 2007 - with Saturday afternoon's clash with Geelong seen as the real measure of the team's merit as a top-eight contender.
And Hinkley, who played 44 games at Kardinia Park, says the "in the moment" focus must be on playing Geelong and not being trapped in the peculiar ways of the skinny oval.
"Everyone understands the unique challenge of Geelong at Geelong. It has been a fantastic team for what seems like forever. We just have to go there with our eyes on our game - and the way we have played and the way we need to continue to play," Hinkley said at Alberton on Thursday.
"Geelong at Geelong is a challenge. But every side is capable of beating any side in any place."
Port Adelaide has a 2-12 record at Kardinia Park where it has not played since round 10 on Thursday, May 25, 2017 when it lost by two points (with a controversial play-on call on forward Charlie Dixon as he lined up a late shot at goal). The two wins since Port Adelaide entered the AFL were in 2001 and 2007.
Port Adelaide's current gameplan - with a preference to work within the lane of the centre square - does work to Kardinia Park's shape.
"(Changing your game for Kardinia Park) might be a trap if you get caught in trying to adjust too much to what the ground is," Hinkley said. "Everyone talks about the ground, but it is not that much different to a lot of other grounds.
"It is certainly a little bit tighter. We get that."
Hinkley revisited the history books at 0-5 noting his first season at Port Adelaide in 2013 began with a five-game winning streak followed by five consecutive losses. Now the script is working the other way.
"That (5-5) still feels a long, long way away," Hinkley said. "It still feels like the challenge we have this weekend - Geelong at Geelong - is as big a challenge that we have had (so far this season). We have had some good recent history with Geelong; some tough, hard games of football. I expect nothing less than that this weekend.
"We are working every day to get better. That is what we have done from when we were 0-5, even when we were 0-3. We just keep our focus on what we need to do.
"We are not perfect by any means. But we are continuing to build. We will do that day by day, hopefully right up to the end of the year. Clearly there are better signs (today than at 0-5); much better signs.
"At 0-5 we were not as bad as 0-5 looked and felt. But we knew that is what we had to live with. We had to stay in the moment; in the day-to-day attitude of 'get better, get better'. We have been able to turn that around a little bit."
Part of this turnaround includes - at least last weekend with the six-goal opening against North Melbourne at Hobart - better starts.
"Starts are part of the four quarters ... and we need to make sure that the end of those games that we have done enough over four quarters," said Hinkley shifting the focus on the full 100 minutes rather than the first 20. "Whether it is the first 10 minutes, the last 10 or in the middle of the game, we have to focus on what we do well in every moment of a football match.
"Sometimes we will get good starts; sometimes we might not. My preference is we play well right from the very start ...and we play well all the way through."
At selection on Thursday evening, Port Adelaide will regain captain Tom Jonas after he was forced out of the win against North Melbourne by the COVID protocols. His return is particularly timely for a defence that needs to deal with the threats posed by Geelong's two tall forwards Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron - and the opportunist ways of Gary Rohan.
"He certainly comes back in, he is our captain," Hinkley said of Jonas who on Friday will being cleared of health and safety protocols.
"He will have done enough. We are really comfortable he will be fine. We do all the health checks we need to do. Tom has been quite lucky with anything he has needed to deal with (while in isolation)."
Also in contention for a move off the medical substitute chair to the match 22 is specialist forward Orazio Fantasia for his second AFL game of the season, but his first on the field.
"We are comfortable enough to know Orazio has some conditioning that will allow him to play," Hinkley said. "If he played any minutes last week, it was going to be a bonus. That didn't happen, but we trained him really strongly after the game. He also has had a really good week (in training)."
Port Adelaide regains North Melbourne recruit Trent Dumont from the COVID protocols leaving Hinkley and his match committee with interesting points of debate on the final line-up to face Geelong.
"We have three or four who we think are part of our best team at the moment (to again consider at selection)," Hinkley said.
Staying in the SANFL, however, is All-Australian key forward Charlie Dixon. And his return to the big league - after two rounds of ankle surgery - will be held off until Dixon is sure of his body. This "luxury" is easier to afford today with the growing returns of the new-look attack built on the three talls of Todd Marshall, Jeremy Finlayson and Mitch Georgiades.
"Charlie will go to Loxton (for the Russell Ebert tribute match against West Adelaide)," Hinkley said. "We will make sure we give him the best chance. The comparison with Charlie and Orazio Fantasia are quite different ... Charlie has not been as smooth (in his recovery) as we would have liked, but Orazio has had a pretty smooth six weeks.
"Charlie is building ... he trained really well on Tuesday. He is optimistic in the way he feels. He has a big body that he has to carry around on that ankle, so it is going to take him a little bit of time to keep moving with it.
"We think we are getting really close to when he is ready to go, but we want to give him the best chance to be successful when he plays. We need to be patient. It is hard at times to stay in that patient spot.
"It is is about the way Charlie moves, the way he pulls up - it won't be just about how many marks or goals he kicks. It will be about how he gets through physically. We want him in the side at the right time - the time when Charlie can perform like he needs to perform.
"We certainly have opportunity (to wait until Dixon is right by the form of Georgiades, Marshall and Finlayson). You never want to be forced and rushed (to recall Dixon), but AFL football can bring on that pressure and squeeze. At the moment we are in a position where the three talls are playing pretty well together, so we get a chance to have Charlie right."
All-Australian defender Aliir Aliir and Tom Clurey will prepare for both Hawkins and Cameron and decide on the match-ups throughout the game.
"We understand the challenge posed by the opposition," said Hinkley of the Cameron-Hawkins tandem that has delivered 52 goals in nine games this season to have Hawkins (27 goals) second on the Coleman Medal list and Cameron (25) in fourth spot. "It is a real and big challenge, particularly big with the Hawkins and Cameron scenario. And they are bringing Gary Rohan back as well. There are significant challenges with any team - and Geelong's are well known.
"Sometimes the match-ups will be decided by the defenders. We will get them where they need to be. No-one is locked into any player. We need to make sure we get the match-ups right ... but we mix and match regularly."
Port Adelaide's new-look midfield with novice lead ruckman Sam Hayes and young midfielders Zak Butters and Connor Rozee certainly will be measured by one of the more powerful engines rooms loaded with mature players.
"Geelong does have a good mix of young and mature midfielders - and the one thing you do know about facing the Geelong midfield is that it will be a contest," Hinkley said. "That is what we expect."
Port Adelaide will wear a special jumper designed by defender Lachie Jones – in conjunction with an aunt - dedicated to his grandmother while the AFL celebrates Sir Doug Nicholls round across the next fortnight.
"It is a special round that I have an enormous amount of pride in," Hinkley said. "It is one of the rounds that I fondly await. To see the jumpers at every club ...
"We are getting better as a society (in ending racism), we are getting better educated, but we still have a long way to go. Indigenous round is an amazing part of our football season; it is one of the rounds I love the most.
"As a footy club we hope and think we do (cultural awareness) pretty well and we are strong in that space. We learn a lot around the Indigenous players' stories. Lachie's story of his grandmother makes us feel fortunate to have Lachie Jones at our football club. You can't get enough of these stories. We have such good knowledge (of Indigenous culture), but we have more knowledge to gain."
Port Adelaide will train at Kardinia Park on Friday. The match will begin at 1.15pm SA time. The most-recent meeting of the two clubs was in last year's qualifying final, won by Port Adelaide by 43 points at Adelaide Oval.
