PORT ADELAIDE midfielder Tom Rockliff chatted to media on Monday afternoon after his side returned home from its 21-point Marsh Community Series victory over Brisbane on Sunday.

Here are the key takeaways from Rockliff’s press conference:

Rockliff on how he felt his side played:

“It was good.

“We felt like we started a little bit slow, but the conditions were a little bit tricky up there as well. The weather wasn’t ideal.

“After quarter time we felt like we sort of played it on our terms and implemented things that we have trained through the pre-season.

“Once we started to get on top around the stoppage, we felt like we controlled the game a lot better.

Rockliff on Charlie Dixon and his pre-season:

“It’s just great to see him back.

“He’s in a really good place at the moment. Really happy off the field as well which no doubt helps him on field.

“He’s up there jumping at the footy. Clunking them. Getting to contest after contest, and that’s all we can ask from him.

“He had seven shots on goal on a pretty good defender. An All-Australian defender. He’s had an outstanding pre-season and I can’t wait to see what he can do this season.

Rockliff on Dixon’s importance:

“Any time you have a key forward that’s in good form, you feel like you’re a good chance.

“Charlie gives us the option for the bail out kick if we don’t like what we see coming down the field. He gets to the contest and brings the ball to ground nine times out of 10.

“We had games last year where we had enough entries but we were getting out-marked too often, and that didn’t happen too many occasions yesterday.

Rockliff on Port’s forward mix:

“I think there are a lot of components to it.

“He is obviously one of those key cogs for us. He’s the key forward. He’s our target going inside 50.

“Robbie playing in a couple of weeks is obviously another target. He will draw some good defenders as well.

“There’s no doubt we’ve tried a few things throughout the pre-season.

Rockliff on Port’s midfield mix:

“We’ve got a different midfield mix which is exciting.

“Seeing Connor and Dan Houston and guys like that come through the midfield was exciting.

“Peps’ (Powell-Pepper) pressure down forward was outstanding as well.

“And it was good seeing Stevey Motlop have an outstanding game - getting up and down the ground.

Rockliff on Port’s defensive pressure:

“I think we missed Brad Ebert as well when he didn’t play the second half of the season.

“That forward line pressure and keeping the ball in the front half is so important nowadays in AFL footy.

“If you can get pressure on their exits, it gives us a really good look coming back inside 50 as well.

“We feel like we’ve got a really nice balance at the moment.

“Obviously it’s the first pre-season game of 2020 and we took some positives out of it and some RFI’s (room for improvements) as well. We will get into the review tomorrow.

Rockliff on Steven Motlop’s performance:

"He'll probably admit himself that he wasn't at the level that he wanted to be last year, but he's set himself up with an outstanding summer.

“If he can play like that yesterday, I think he'll trouble a fair few oppositions.

"He spent a bit of time in the midfield and getting up and down the ground.

"His ball use is sensational as well, so he's a really important player for us.

"His running capacity is unbelievable.

"He covers the ground at high speed, he gets to a lot of contests, there were passages of play where he was in the defensive 50 and then he'd turn up inside 50 in the same chain of play.

"Not many players can go with him when he's up and about and running and getting to contests.