PORT ADELAIDE coach Ken Hinkley was pleased with his side’s response against Melbourne on Thursday night, singling out some late desperation from his players when the game was won as the most pleasing aspect.

Hinkley challenged his side to be better around the contest after its disappointing loss to St Kilda last week and it was evident from the start that he got what he was after.

Port booted the first six goals of the game before running out 12.11 (83) to 4.8 (32) winners at the Gabba.

“We obviously played as well as it probably could have,” Hinkley said in his post-match press conference.

“We don’t want to be a response team but it’s better to respond than not. We’ve had a pretty positive first nine weeks of the season so it was good for the boys.

“We needed to be (energetic around the ball).

“We talked about that leading into the game that collectively, and that’s not just our midfield, but collectively we needed to be stronger in the contest and we were certainly stronger around the contest against a really strong midfield and an elite ruckman.”

Max Gawn was among the best for Melbourne winning 40 hit-outs to 10 against inexperienced Port ruckman Peter Ladhams but Hinkley said his side worked to a plan to limit the influence of the Demons skipper around the ground.

“We did a fair bit of work on Max to be fair. If he and Brodie Grundy aren’t the best ruckmen in the comp, they’re pretty close to it,” the Port coach explained.

“We did a fair bit of work and young Pete (Ladhams)’s approach to this week was really interesting because we just told him we wanted him to learn… and the best way to learn when you’re coming up against him is to play on him as best as you can.

“Max was still strong enough but I thought we did a good job around the ground to limit his impact.”

Much of the work was done in the middle of the ground, where Port’s midfield was dominant against Melbourne’s talented on ball brigade with Ollie Wines, Travis Boak and Karl Amon in particular getting plenty of the pill.

“I thought Ollie was outstanding and I thought Travis around the ball and Sam Powell-Pepper as a group came in and really powered away and Rock (Tom Rockliff) came in and played his role after a couple of weeks out,” Hinkley said.

“We’ve got a pretty good balance of outside run with (Xavier) Duursma and Amon as well and also (Kane) Farrell, who plays a bit up the wing, and we’ve got (Zak) Butters who can go there a little bit.

“When we get it right, our balance looks alright and tonight we got it pretty close to right.”

While forward Charlie Dixon was quiet with just the one major for the night, his presence allowed teenager Mitch Georgiades to fly in for a couple of marks and boot three goals and veteran Justin Westhoff, who qualified for AFL Life Membership on Thursday night, to boot two.

But the most pleasing thing for Hinkley was the attack on the ball in the last quarter by Robbie Gray and Powell-Pepper, who each took big hits despite the game being in the bag.

“It was amazing really,” Hinkley said.

“We were up ten goals I think and I saw Robbie Gray put his body on the line incredibly well and I saw Sam Powell-Pepper really attack the next contest straight after it.

“I was really impressed and I made a comment in the box that they were my two favourite edits of the game that they were still doing it when the game was under control.

“It didn’t take my (breath) away – it took Rob’s away, but he’s ok. That’s when he plays his best footy, with his head over the ball.”

With no injuries reported out of the match, attention will quickly turn to recovery ahead of a Round 10 fixture against the Western Bulldogs on Monday night back in Adelaide.

“We’ll be ok. After this game the first thing we’re checking is recovery,” Hinkley explained.

“We’re talking about getting ready and going again on Monday night, which we’ve been planning for a good period of time.

“We’re a little unsure to be fair til you get through tonight and see how you pull up for a four day break.

“We’ll be fine, we’ll attack it really well and if we need to make a couple of changes – so far out of the game all clear from an injury point of view so it’s not going to be an injury it’s just going to be how the physical assault’s gone.”

The win was Port’s six in seven games in Queensland this year, and its fifth by seven or more goals.

It keeps the Power top of the AFL ladder, where it has been all season ahead of Monday’s big game back at Adelaide Oval.