PORT Adelaide's loss to Collingwood was a reminder of the strength of the competition's top sides, according to coach Ken Hinkley.
The Power conceded seven goals to none in the first term of the Friday night clash at Marvel Stadium, and trailed by 45 points at the opening change.
They were able to cut the deficit to 18 points in the third term but could not run down the Magpies, who eventually ran out 39-point winners.
Two weeks after travelling to Perth and beating reigning premiers West Coast, the Power could not repeat the effort against last year's other Grand Finalists.
Hinkley admitted the performance showed his side had to make some gains before catching the contenders.
"We knew what we were coming in to face and we knew how good the opposition was. We get a little bit of a reminder of that gap, I think that's fair [to say]," he said.
Port allowed Collingwood to enter its forward-50 on 20 occasions in the first term, and the Magpies collected 132 disposals to 73 in the opening-quarter hiding.
Hinkley approached co-captain Ollie Wines and ruckman Scott Lycett with stern words at the quarter-time huddle and he explained the spray post-game.
"We lost the game in the midfield early and [Collingwood ruckman Brodie] Grundy got away to a good start and our midfield wasn't as clean and decisive as it needed to be," he said.
"We got shown up clearly in that area of the ground. Collingwood put the pressure on big time and they were rewarded for it.
"I think for 40 minutes of the game we played reasonable football and we matched it with a high quality side, but that was about it, because I felt they could perhaps have won by a bit more."
Port lost veteran midfielder Brad Ebert to a head knock in the third term and he will be assessed during the week, while co-captain Tom Jonas could be back to face Adelaide in next Saturday night's Showdown after missing the past two weeks with a calf injury.
"We hope [Jonas plays] but there's no guarantees, he's got a soft-tissue injury. We thought he might've been all right for tonight but it didn't quite happen," Hinkley said.
