PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Dean Brogan was pleased with the resilience and composure shown by a young Power outfit in their win over Gold Coast on Sunday.

Brogan said he was impressed by the inexperienced group’s ability to shrug off a lacklustre first half and run out comfortable winners in trying conditions.

“Half time, I wouldn’t say we were nervous, but we definitely needed to pull our finger out,” Brogan told SEN SA’s breakfast program.

“Kenny’s message was pretty good I thought. Just stick with it and grind it out. We felt if we did that, we would get the result.

“After half time, the boys got their heads on and 43 to nine inside 50s is a pretty convincing second half. We started to play some really good footy in that last quarter.”

The Power premiership ruckman said the decision to hand young defender Dougal Howard the captaincy for the day was a nod to the new breed of emerging leaders coming through the club.

“Kenny’s theme of the day was a bit of a changing of the guard,” Brogan said.

“I think we had 6-7 players with only 10-15 games experience.

“In my short time with Dougs, he’s got some really good leadership qualities.

“Although we’ve just appointed Ollie and TJ as captains, there’s always an eye on the next crop and I think Dougs is in that bracket.”

Brogan was also impressed with the performances of forward Billy Frampton and debutant Joel Garner given their persistence through preseason and with the Magpies in the SANFL.

“He (Frampton) had a really good preseason, he didn’t miss a beat and he’s been absolutely dominating in the SANFL and banging the door down,” he said.

“The good teams have a lot of pressure from underneath and Billy has been doing that for over a month now and he’s got his opportunity.

“He’s (Garner) been really good in the SANFL and he’s another kid that’s been chipping away and putting pressure on the AFL side.

“He’s a really good kid and I thought he contributed really well.

“Him and Billy coming into the side gave the group a lot of energy and they played their roles.

“Moving forward, it’s a bright future for the club.”