DANYLE Pearce says Port Adelaide knew the Gold Coast would come out fighting after half time and won Saturday’s match at Metricon Stadium by backing each other in.

Speaking after the Power’s third win for the year, Pearce said the team was disappointed with their performance to half time and were wary of the Gold Coast’s ability to push teams to the line.

“We weren’t overly happy and we wanted to go in with a bigger lead at half time,” said Pearce.

"But we also knew how well they [Gold Coast] were going and that they weren’t just going to roll over for us.

“They’d been playing really well the last couple of weeks and we just had to come out in the second half and keep playing-on and backing ourselves in.”

Pearce says the Power sealed the win in the third quarter through regular supply to the forwards and allowing the midfield to contribute to the scoreboard - highlighted through eleven individual goal scorers.

“The old cliché is the third quarter is the ‘premiership quarter’ and our forwards have shown that if we get the ball in there enough we’re going to produce a winning score,” said Pearce.

“Just giving them as much supply as possible in that third quarter really stood out.

“It wasn’t just the mids, it was the forwards, the backs as well... everyone’s doing their job, sticking to our structures - and anyone can pop up on any given day.”

Pearce said that the game also saw a number of his teammates play their best football for the year - Matthew Broadbent (92% effective disposal rate) and Travis Boak (3 goals) particularly.

“Brogsy [Broadbent] kicked some crucial goals at crucial moments and kicked one today in the third quarter which was really important,” he said.

“He’s just taking things one step at a time with his footy and as long as we keep improving, he’ll keep improving, and it’s great to see Boaky come out this week and kick three - he was fantastic.”