We know we kicked the NAB Challenge off against Adelaide at Richmond Oval, but for us as a club, Tuesday night’s match against Essendon at Etihad was the real start to our season.

The result against Adelaide was disappointing, but we played a much younger team with several key players missing.

In comparison, we took a stronger, which looked closer to a potential Round 1 side, to play the Bombers’ own strong lineup.

We decided our final two pre-season games (against Essendon last Tuesday and coming up against the Saints) would be our main focus before the home-and-away season, so to come away with a 25-point win proved we are on the right track heading into Round 1.

After a disappointing start in the first quarter, with the boys struggling to deal with Essendon’s pressure around the ball, we soon found our composure and started to play the style we want Port Adelaide to become known for.

Essendon had the first 10 tackles of the game and this combined with our poor ball use - at 67.5% efficiency in the opening quarter - to help the Bombers get the jump on our group.

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Skill efficiency and contested possessions were two areas our group focussed on during the pre-season, and we seemed to make gains in this area on Tuesday night with our skill finishing at 75.7% (that’s 8.2% above last year’s average) and dominating the contested possessions with 17 more than Essendon by the end of the game.

While the Bombers did finish with 30 more tackles than us, it was more due to our ability to gain first possession at stoppages and maintain control of the possession in general play.

We had 134 uncontested marks on the night - the most ever in a game under Ken Hinkley - which highlighted our fast ball movement and our ability to slow play, hold the ball and control the tempo of the game.

Jared Polec’s progression at the club will continue and he’s enjoying an environment that will hopefully improve his knowledge of the game.

He looked dynamic in and outside of stoppages with 23 disposals, three clearances and 408 metres gained. His damaging left foot was on full show too - hitting up Schulzy with fast breaks from half back which makes it hard for any defensive unit in the competition to stop.

Jasper Pittard was arguably the best player on the field with a game-high 634 metres gained (the most for his career), 29 disposals and 13 marks.

His ability to cause trouble for opposition forwards running out of the back half with speed and playing a sling shot style of football helped set up our offence.

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Justin Westhoff had the ability to go into defence, play on the wing, and even as a back up ruck last year and he showed it again on Tuesday with five goals and nine marks.

Without our two back half generals Bobby Carlile and Jackson Trengove, our raw defensive group was praised by Kenny after the game, showing that there will be a lot of competition for spots this coming season.

Jarman Impey again showed his value with his aggression on the contest and willingness to not be beaten one-on-one.

Tommy Clurey and Jack Hombsch competed both in the air and on the ground and made it hard for the Essendon forwards to hit targets inside forward 50.

The more these younger players play together for Port Adelaide at either AFL or SANFL level will be an excellent thing for our club going forward.

In an elite AFL environment you can’t rely on specific players to be the back bone of the playing group, everyone needs to fit into the structures in place on-field and trust their teammates will play their role and contribute to the ultimate team success.

With a 10-day break between games, expect a close to full-strength team to come up against Richo’s Saints. He’ll be looking for a strong showing on his return to Alberton since his departure for the top job at Seaford at the end of last year.