PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Tyson Goldsack says the side is not wedded to its key defensive structures, explaining whether two or three tall defenders play each week will come down to the opposition.

With Esava Ratugolea out with a hamstring injury on Sunday, the Power’s defence held up well against St Kilda led by strong performances from Aliir Aliir and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Goldsack heaped praise on Zerk-Thatcher for keeping quiet the dangerous Max King.

He also spoke about the side looking to build off the performance against the Saints and the availability for this week of forward Willie Rioli.

Tyson Goldsack on Sunday’s win over St Kilda:

“We knew we needed it. We knew it wouldn't be pretty if we didn't get it. The way in which we got it was just okay. There were some nice parts but there's some areas that we probably left out there and opportunity left out there. On a whole, it's positive and we'll hopefully build off that.

“(The players are) kind of walking in a lot happier today than they were this time last week. And after the game, you could sense a little bit of relief there. (They’re) just kind of gaining that trust in their game again, and their performance so it was a good result, from that perspective.”

Tyson Goldsack on senior coach Ken Hinkley’s emotional post-match response:

“I like it. I think the question is why and everyone thinks of the obvious, but for him, it's just he wants to see his players succeed, and get the reward that they deserve for the hard work that they've put in. Probably more for that perspective, where it's good to see us win, because it's a high pressure environment but just to see them succeed, and hopefully put us one step closer towards finals.

“Once he gets to the club, he was okay. On the Monday he walked in and he was happy to be here and just getting stuck in to what we need to work on. But without doubt it takes its toll. You wouldn't be human if it didn't, the amount of noise that was around and we hear it, it's hard not to hear it. But I think he handles himself very well and you just continue to turn up and help the place be a better place and hopefully reach success.”

Tyson Goldsack on what Sunday’s win does for the group:

“We played some good footy in the first half of the year. Yeah, we had a run where we fell away from that, our form fell away, but we played some really good footy and we had some really good patches. It's just building confidence again in that we can be a really good team. We showed glimpses of that on the weekend. Although there were patches where we’d rather have it a different way and maybe connect going forward better or hit the scoreboard better. But on a whole, we got a win and we were pretty consistent in the way we got it.

“If you break the ladder down to two portions, like over the last four weeks, we would be near the bottom but we haven't dropped out of the eight and that's probably a testament to our front half of the year where we played some really good footy and got some wins and were performing consistently. Hopefully, this is the start of that, again.”

Tyson Goldsack on whether the club is better served playing two key defenders or three:

“We definitely considered it at the start of last week, what our best makeup looks like and how can we complement two talls if we have two, what else can we put around three talldefenders if we need three? As a defence you have to be a little bit dependent on who you're playing and who they're lining up in their forward line. We'll take that into consideration and what we can get if we go two or three talls.

“We went with two on the weekend and that worked well for us. We defended really well. Guys like Lachie Jones can play taller and Logan Evans can play slightly taller so we have guys that can play on talls and smalls and mediums and whoever is down there, so it gives us good flexibility.”

Tyson Goldsack on Brandon Zerk-Thatcher’s performance against the Saints:

“It was (good). It's no secret that his last two or three weeks has probably been a little bit below his standard. So, it was a return to form for Thatch. I thought we did a really good job mainly on (Max) King who we know can be a tough forward.”

Tyson Goldsack on Willie Rioli’s availability for this weekend’s game:

"Willie is moving well. He was in yesterday for a run around and he's looking like he's not far away so hopefully this week.”