HALL of Fame coach Malcolm Blight uses July as the month to judge AFL finals contenders by looking for teams that can string wins in the darkest hours of winter.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley is looking for that critical winning streak to build this weekend by pairing a home win against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon (1.15pm start) to the two-point victory against St Kilda.
It would mark the first back-to-back wins for Port Adelaide since successive wins against Geelong, Hawthorn and North Melbourne in rounds 10-12.
"The key to us - and any good team - is to get to a consistent level," said Hinkley at Alberton on Wednesday. "Regardless of who you play, where you play, you give yourself a chance if you play consistently.
"That is our challenge. And every side - bar Sydney - has had things go badly for them this year.
"We have not been playing that well; we have not played at the level we would like to play at," is Hinkley's frank review of Port Adelaide's 9-6 win-loss count. He is not doubting his team's ability to rekindle last year's defining 13-game winning streak.
"We have had moments. We have not had consistency," added Hinkley.
"This competition is so tight. Every game is going to mean so much - and the ladder is going to change so much every week."
SELECTION: Expect key forward Todd Marshall to stay on the team sheet after being subbed out against St Kilda with hamstring tightness.
There is a hold on key defender Esava Ratugolea as he recovers from his hamstring strain.
And do not be surprised if - after such a long absence with a calf strain and then illness - specialist forward Willie Rioli makes his comeback, though there is no guarantee it will be through the AFL.
"Todd should be okay," Hinkley said of Marshall before training at Alberton Oval on Wednesday morning. "We took him out of the game last week with some hamstring tightness. There was nothing serious. But we have some evidence back (from scans) to suggest he is good - there is nothing wrong with his hamstring.
"We won't do anything silly with (Ratugolea). We will make sure we manage it the right way.
"Willie Rioli should be available for selection, but he has missed a lot of footy. We have to be a bit careful about that. Whether he plays AFL or SANFL, we will make that decision later in the week. We will hold our decision until we see what he can get through the rest of the week."
Ratugolea is expected to resume next week. The question of returning the Geelong recruit to defence or adding him to the forward structure remains open.
"If there was a week to have three tall defenders (Ratugolea, Aliir Aliir and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher) it is this week with the way the Bulldogs are," Hinkley said.
BAROMETER: Port Adelaide has long been judged on contested numbers, but the statistic is not as clear cut as it should be.
"Ultimately," says Hinkley, "you need to be breaking even at the contest, there is no doubt about that. But there are different types of contested numbers and a lot of things that go into contested possession.
"Simply, if you just read the number it can be a bit wrong."
By raw numbers, Port Adelaide ranks lowly on basic contested possession numbers.
Port Adelaide this season is averaging 126.1 contested possessions - short of the league average of 131.4. On critical match-day differential, Port Adelaide is minus 6.6 but it also has lost the free-kick count in eight of 15 games this season.
"Free kicks against, they go into contested possession," Hinkley said.
"If you give away 10 extra free kicks," added Hinkley, "and you lose contested possession, is your intent not right? Is it that you are just a bit aggressive? So many things go into it. Ideally, you need to be close. You cannot be beaten badly - and we have seen that happen to us. Beaten badly, you don't win."
BULLDOGS BARK: Contested numbers show the Western Bulldogs average 133.4 contested possessions this season and have a match differential of plus two (ranked eighth of 18).
And history tells that Luke Beveridge's pack from The Kennel can bite in encounters with Port Adelaide.
"It is really challenging," Hinkley acknowledged of his rival's strengths. "The Bulldogs play a brand of football around the contest that is really hard to compete with at times, but we know we are capable."
PREPARATION: Under intense external scrutiny last week, Port Adelaide proved its football program is still sound - and free of distraction - by its work in making adjustments for the two-point win against St Kilda at the Docklands in Melbourne on Sunday.
"I know everyone inside our club turns up with the same attitude to get better," Hinkley said. "We worked really hard as a whole club to get that win.
"The playing group has been pretty strong. We know we have been a little bit off with our footy. How you control your way to get better is to go out, work on it - continually. That is what we do. We hope to gain confidence every time we turn up at the club (to work at getting better)."
SCORING: In a year of strong focus on goalkicking - but still challenges in showing this on the scoreboard - training again had a solid emphasis on set-shot routines.
"We keep working," Hinkley said. "We are not putting our heads in the sand. We are not going to ignore it. We are going to keep working. We will do all the things we need to so the boys have confidence when they need to execute under pressure."
