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A MATURING Port Adelaide must keep pressing its home ground advantage at the Adelaide Oval, says the club's midfield manager Michael Voss.
The Power defeated Carlton by 90 points at the weekend, narrowly lost to top-placed Adelaide two weeks before and opened its home ground calendar with a thumping win over Fremantle in Round 2.
Voss says Port's supporter turnout is an added weapon at home games, but the club needs to press that advantage home on the scoreboard. Hopefully, it’s a sign of maturity, but for us when we come back to the home base, it’s got to become the ‘Portress’ for us.
"Hopefully it’s a sign of maturity, but for us when we come back to the home base, it’s got to become the ‘Portress’ for us," Voss said on Monday.
"When you have your home venue, you want to make the most of it. Our players enjoy it every time our fans and members get out there, we just haven’t ended up to our end of the bargain in the last couple of years.
"It’s really pleasing to be able to see we’re able to make it harder for opposition teams to come here and win."
Port's goal kicking was called into question following a 6.10 third quarter that featured in its performance last Friday.
Voss iterated that goal kicking features as a segment of every Power training session, but says cracking a formula that can replicate the nature of game day is difficult.
Should the Power get their finishing right, Voss says it could offer a decent edge in match conditions.
"Every single session we do has a goal kicking session in it. It’s not missed, not here [at Port] anyway," Voss said.
"It’s just hard to replicate what it is about game day, that’s the big difference and the great debate about goal kicking: how do you replicate the same sort of pressure, and the same moment when you’re kicking in front of 50,000 people and the scoreboard is right in front of you?
"If we can improve that part of our game, that could be the other five or 10 percent we’re looking for."
Port's next test is Voss's old club Brisbane, at the Gabba, a place of mixed success for the club historically.
He expects a challenge when the Power arrives on Saturday, saying pundits haven't given the Lions credit yet for improvement showing on-field.
"They’re playing some good footy. Reputation trails reality by 12 months," Voss said.
"Their reality is that they’re going heaps better than perhaps their reputation gives them, and they’re playing some solid footy, have some real consistency in their personnel who’ve been playing, their midfield’s been playing well.
"We need to turn our focus there to the Lions and make sure we get our own style in place when we get up there."
Port Adelaide plays the Brisbane Lions at 4.35pm AEST on Saturday 29 April.
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