LAST year’s heartbreaking extra time after the siren elimination final loss to West Coast still weighs heavily on the mind of Port Adelaide defender Dan Houston, but only for the learning that comes from it.

Houston was playing just his 17th game of senior football on that memorable night at Adelaide Oval and is a relative veteran of 36 games now.

Ahead of the sides meeting again at the same venue on Saturday, Houston revealed he still thinks about the game, but won’t use it for any extra motivation.

“It was my only final so it’s something I reference off coming towards this time of year,” he told portadelaidefc.com.au.

“It shows what the expectation is in tight, contested games.

“You do reference off it to see what it’s like to play in a high-pressure game and doing the basics right and keeping your head in the game.”

Houston has owned his spot at half-back this season, displaying composure and good foot skills, as well as a new-found hard edge, winning more contested ball this year.

The 21-year-old is among his side’s best for intercept marks and while he is settled at AFL level, the former forward admits he still has plenty of room to improve.

“I haven’t played a lot of games back there so I’m still trying to learn parts of the game from the good defenders like Tom Jonas,” Houston said.

“He’s probably our leader down back and I want to strive to be a player like him, who is tough and reads the ball really well.

“I definitely look up to him and try to take parts of his game into mine.

“Obviously we’re different types of players but he’s got some really good fundamentals that I like.”

Houston is part of the league’s second-stingiest defence, second only behind last year’s premiers Richmond for total score conceded.

Led well by defensive coach Nathan Bassett, the young group makes up what it lacks in experience with positioning, desperation and one-percenters, with Port leading the league for spoils.

“We’re a pretty tight line – a team within a team – and we like playing and working for each other,” Houston revealed.

“We get the rewards of playing well as a team, not so much as individuals.

“Because we’re young we’re all learning at the same time, so it’s not one person learning – it’s all of us together.”

Houston also revealed injured backmen Hamish Hartlett and Matthew Broadbent were ideal sounding boards, providing advice and guidance to their younger teammates.

“They can’t be out there at the moment but their leadership is still vital,” he said.

“We have a young backline and they both play a similar position to what I do.

“Hamish is on the bench and provides lots of feedback instantly on game day and Brogsy is similar where he’ll come in on a Monday and tell you what he thinks of your game.

“Sometimes they even come up and watch vision of my game and it’s really handy to have their input as well as the coaches.”

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