PORT Adelaide coach Mark Williams has praised his side's new-found fighting qualities in Saturday afternoon's 27-point loss to the Brisbane Lions at AAMI Stadium.

The Power got off to a slow start, kicking just three goals in the first half to trail by 39 points at the main change, but persisted to outscore the Lions eight goals to six in the second half.

Last year Port Adelaide was criticised for its inability to fight back against momentum shifts after being beaten by seven goals or more on seven separate occasions.

Williams was far from happy with the result, but said the players should take heart from their second-half performance.

"Although we got smashed early I thought it was pretty significant that our players, having come back from Perth and with the opposition having a nine-day break, toughed out the game … to be able to call on that sort of resolve in the last quarter was great for them," Williams said after the game.

"I think our supporters were keen to see how the players might react under those circumstances and I'm sure they'd be at least to some degree satisfied that it finished as it did and people have kept their pride intact."

Williams suggested last weekend's hard-fought win over West Coast at Subiaco had contributed to his side's sluggish start.

"I thought we began without any of our energy, enthusiasm and bounce we've had for the last however long (period of time). We have to look at that. Half of our side didn't train on Wednesday because of the game against West Coast. It was a significantly hard game and it went for I think world-record time. Maybe that had something to do with the slow start."

The Power's only experienced ruckman Dean Brogan was a late withdrawal from the side with a shoulder injury.

Port Adelaide recruited ex-Carlton and Collingwood utility Cameron Cloke as an insurance policy for the veteran this season, but Cloke failed to have any real impact in his first game for the club on Saturday.

Williams described Brogan's absence as significant and revealed the Power had tried to get another seasoned big man during last year's trade period.

"We didn't have the finances to get any significant ruckman ... a Darren Jolly or a Mark Seaby. We tried to get Mark Jamar and he's pretty significant. He indicated he was coming and then changed his mind, so we went out of our way to try and bolster that but just because you want them doesn't mean they're going to come."