CARLTON'S contested brand of footy was challenged by Port Adelaide in Friday night's loss, according to coach Michael Voss.
Although the Blues ultimately won the contested possession count 154-139, they led the metric by just one in the second half, and lost the clearance count by 10.
"I'll try and say contest and pressure about five different ways if you want, but effectively that's where it all started," Voss said post-match.
"They had 90-odd tackles, and 50 of those plus in the second half. Their pressure rating was really high across the day. A rare number that we lose is contested possession, we never lose that number."
Falling energy levels was one factor to blame for Carlton's second half fade out.
Coming off a five-day break, forced into a late change with Harry McKay struck down with illness and required to use their substitute early due to an injured David Cuningham, the Blues ran out of legs against a fast-finishing Port Adelaide outfit.
A seven-goal second quarter helped the Blues pull away to a 31-point lead before half-time, only to lose by 14 points. Outside of that second-term blitz, the side kicked just two goals.
"I could sit here and say it's not a factor, but the reality is, it had something to do with it," Voss said.
"What we don't do, though, as a football club is that we use that as a reason for the loss… you've still got to be able to find a way to be able to play consistent (footy) no matter what, and that's still something we're trying to achieve."
Voss also confirmed that Cuningham's shoulder injury was a dislocation, with scans to take place in the coming days.
"He's had it before, so (I'm) not expecting the best news," he conceded.
For Port Adelaide senior coach Hinkley, it was Port Adelaide's willingness to do the hard stuff to work back into the game that was most impressive.
"Proud of our boys for the way they played the second half," Hinkley said.
"We actually had to figure out how to play tough, and I thought we played against a really, really tough team and in the second half maybe we just got our noses in front of the tough contest."
Part of his side's second-half surge was star midfielder Zak Butters' ability to adapt to a tight Alex Cincotta tag. Butters had struggled in the first half to have his usual damaging impact, but broke free in the third quarter to register 10 disposals and ignite his side.
"I would say that it's really hard for a small player like Zak to handle being manhandled around stoppages, and that's real. That's what goes on, and he know that, he knows it's really hard work," Hinkley said.
"Cincotta does a really good job of looking after him, but Zak's learned a lot in the last six weeks, he's going to be in a good position as he goes through the next four weeks. He's grown as a player, I'm really proud of Zak, and some of his fines come about for some of the treatment he cops."
With ladder-leader Sydney to come next week, the Power's run doesn't get any easier, but it is an ideal test with just a month to go before finals.
"We want to be a good team, we want to be one of the best teams in the comp," Hinkley said.
"A lot of people have said we've probably got the perfect preparation to go through the back half… we're going to find out whether we're worthy, and that will be really nice once we get that answer."
But belief has never been lacking inside the four walls of Alberton.
"We've always had some belief. Not many do about us, but we've had a bit of belief and we're trying really hard to continue to improve late in the season," Hinkley said.
