PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Brett Montgomery is confident his side will generate some momentum out of its impressive win over reigning Premier West Coast in Perth on Friday night.
The Power shocked the Eagles on their home turf to record a 42-point win – its biggest victory over them since 2007 and first win at Optus Stadium in three attempts.
The Power skipped out to an early lead based on manic pressure and a willingness to attack at all costs and built a game-winning lead by half time.
Most pleasing for the coaching staff, however, was that the pressure and risk-taking attacking play continued in the second half despite the lead reaching as high as nine goals.
“It was a fantastic performance, a great team effort for four quarters, which we hadn’t seen for a few weeks,” Montgomery said after the side returned to Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.
“I think it’s coming through loud and clear how we want to play.
“You could see it in the way we attacked the first ball right through to the end so there’s no apologies for that and we’ve been really clear about what we’re trying to do with the way our style will evolve.”
The Power restricted the influence of West Coast’s intercept marking and rebound out of defence and restricted its host to just 38 inside 50s.
It was Port Adelaide’s most complete performance of the season so far.
“I think the plan was clear. It was a fairly courageous effort by our playing group to be honest,” Montgomery said.
“When the first ball was bounced, we knew what we were in for.
“We were able to set some guidelines and some things that would help us succeed and they did them very very well.
“It was really courageous and a performance we were really proud of.”
Montgomery singled out the performance of defender Dougal Howard, saying he was “an outstanding contributor” as well as that of young midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper, who he said was a “barometer” for the team.
He also praised first-year players Connor Rozee, Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma, as well as five-game midfielder Willem Drew for their showing in the trying conditions.
“Xavier, Zac, Connor, Willem – all the younger guys have certainly stood up when they needed to, and they’ll have their challenges for the next 20 or 30 games while they’re trying to find their way,” Montgomery said.
“It just so happened that last night they all clicked together, which does bring a lot of others along for the ride, even the coaches to be honest so it’s an exciting time for the kids.”
While he was proud of the effort and overall performance, Montgomery said the challenge was to continue to stick to the game plan and develop some consistency.
“Any time you go on one of these significant road trips and you get over the line you can really feast on that stuff for quite a period – especially given it was such a big challenge – the reigning premier over there on a Friday night – it was a pretty big game.
“We’ll take a lot out of that one and hopefully we’ll ride that wave for a long time.
“It’s not just about maintaining the performance, it’s about maintaining the style, the energy, the compliance to be able to maintain that style.
“We haven’t really, apart from the Melbourne game, played four quarters and I think last night was really complete.
“I think it gives us a lot of foundation to keep reinforcing that what we’re doing is really strong.
“It’s obviously part of the players’ and the club’s DNA for this year – the players are trying to write their own story and they’re really attached to the way we want to play.”
