Port Adelaide assistant coach Chad Cornes said the emotion following his side’s clutch win over Essendon on Saturday was among the best he’s experienced since being part of the club. 

Dan Houston’s task to seal the game after the siren was a big one, with even the coaches nervous for the 26-year-old in the dying seconds of the game. 

Cornes spoke to the media on Monday about the match result, how strong the belief is in the team, and Dante Visentini’s last-minute debut. 

Cornes on the last minute of Saturday’s game 
“I didn’t have full confidence that Dan was going to make the distance. I think, after that kick, that point (where Essendon got) two points up, CD (Chris Davies) put his notepad together and I started picking up my pens, which is normally a sign that she's all over but then you've still got that trust…and Moose (Trent McKenzie) did the right thing with that kick in and Ollie (Wines) did a great surge contest from the kick in and we locked it in the front 50. Then Dan took the mark, and we were like ‘nah he can’t make that with a drop punt, he's going to have to go a torp,’ and he didn’t!  

“(In the coaches box), there was a fair bit of high-fiving and hugging when the goal umpire signalled that it had gone through. Kenny on the bench has had a huge impact but the coaches box with (Josh Carr) and (Nathan Bassett) and Chris Davies up there, is a coaches box that's working really well and more often than not, it’s calm. In that moment, maybe not as calm as we would have liked. 

“The emotions on the field and in the rooms afterwards were right up there with some of the great wins we've had this year and in the past. To now have the families and friends in the rooms after the game, the first person I saw when I walked in was Dan’s dad and he was almost in tears. It was just really special for the boys to be able to celebrate with their family and friends after games. 

Cornes on Scott Lycett’s late withdrawal 
“We know he's getting looked at today. Possible scan today but I haven't got any updates yet. We have the coaches meeting in a couple of hours, so I'll know more then. 

“Meniscus was the talk pre-game. There was a bit happening – he said after the first warm up he wasn’t sure but wanted to give it a go so Dante (Visentini) got strapped and ready and then Scoot got through that warm up and said ‘nope, we're all good’ and then just as we were coming off the ground before the first bounce, (Josh Carr) came up to me and said ‘nah mate he's no good.’ So Dante was up in the coaches box and the MCG coaches boxes are a fair distance away. He'd already taken the strapping off so that's why we didn’t see him until halfway through the first. All in all, pretty good effort from big D to come off that and help us get over the line in the game.” 

Cornes on Dante Visentini’s debut 
“On one hand, it might have been good for him (to debut with late notice) because he didn’t have any of those nerves and didn’t have to think about it too much. But, on the other hand, you miss the pre-game ceremony where you've got your parents and your family there and you get your guernsey presented, you don’t get the build-up of the normal debut game, but things happen, and you've got to adapt on the fly so I thought he did really well in terms of that.  

“He would have been rushing, probably got (his guernsey) off the property steward while he was getting strapped, so again he missed out on (a guernsey presentation), but we will try and make up for it. Kenny (Hinkley) made a point after the game of making a big deal out of it and his parents made it there by quarter time. I think they were out for dinner somewhere and then their car ran out of petrol on the way, so there was a bit of chaos. 

“I think what we’ve seen from Dante, both in the (SANFL) games and probably more so at training is he's competitive, he's tough and he's aggressive and that's what we love about him so if he was to get a few more opportunities, I think we’d see some real growth in him.” 

Cornes on ruck options 
“I think the preferred option is to have a ruckman so you don’t have to mess too much with the forward structure. I think we've seen when we’ve got Toddy (Marshall), Charlie (Dixon) and Jeremy (Finlayson) together from a forwards point of view, and a team point of view, that's how we’ve had our best results in terms of scoring. But in saying that, Charlie and Jeremy have both shown great things when they've been in the ruck so that's something we'll balance through this week.” 

Cornes on Charlie Dixon 
“He's not moving the best he ever has but he's still influencing games. I thought he started really well, he was probably our best player in the first quarter and had a good contribution to the win but no doubt, he's sore. His 200th (AFL game) this week and he's already talking about that, so this is no doubt a game he’ll get up for. He's a passionate guy, really cares about the club, he really cares about his family, his mates, so to bring that all together for him on Saturday will be really special.” 

Cornes on winning 12 in a row 
“There is a great belief in the group and even when we're down in games, there's always a feeling that we'll get back in. We haven’t been down in by a lot except for that Collingwood game. The margin has always been close but there is a really strong belief. Sometimes in the past you go down and try and speak to the boys during the breaks and there's a bit of a blank look on the face but now no matter the situation, how they've been playing you can just look in their eyes and they're ready for the fight. We train a lot of the situational stuff when games are close, and the boys understand what to do in those situations. I think if you watch how that last goal came about from the initial kick in, everyone's on the same page. No matter how things have gone previously, the boys trust that they can have an impact when the moments get big, like in that last quarter.”