PORT Adelaide forward Jay Schulz says his club is much better positioned than it was last year, predicating the Hawthorn side that delivered the Power their season-worst loss on Sunday would play off in this year's Grand Final.

The Hawks were a class above Port and Schulz said that while he wasn't happy with the Power's 4-7 record, he felt much more confident about the club's prospects this season than he did last year.

"This is where we're at, we got beaten by a quality side on the weekend, who I think is going to play in a Grand Final and I don't think we embarrassed ourselves by any stretch," he said.

"While the results didn't go our way, we haven't been beaten by a hundred points like we were last year, we haven't had those games.

"I feel fantastic each week going out into our games - we've pushed bloody good sides this year, especially early on."

Click here to view Schulz's career stats

Schulz said he "hates" statistics, preferring to gauge his side's mid-season performance on how he felt each week.

But the stats back him up. While Power are hardly flying at 4-7 and in 13th spot, they've already bettered their three wins of 2011 and have looked far more competitive in every outing.

Schulz said the side needed to improve its delivery into the attacking 50.

The Power were convincingly beaten in that area against the Hawks, recording 15 fewer inside 50s and it's a trend they've struggled with all season.

They rank 14th in getting the ball into their attacking 50 and Schulz admitted it was a trouble area.

"We need to get our numbers up, obviously," he said.

"We think our forwards can kick a winning score for us.

"I think it's part of being able to stop them from going inside 50 because if you can do that then, generally, the ball's in your front half a lot more."

Schulz said the Power were preparing for a tough encounter with the Western Bulldogs on Sunday, with the Dogs ranked first for contested possessions.

He said the game would come down to 22 one-on-one contests.

"[The] Bulldogs this year have shown that they want to play one-on-one contested footy all over the ground and for us to beat them we've got to bring that exact same game," he said.

"It's just going to be one-on-one play all over the ground and see if you can beat your man and that's a fantastic challenge for us.

"That's the way a lot of us love to play footy."

Harry Thring covers Port Adelaide news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.