JOHN Cahill would be in his element. How often did Port Adelaide's most-successful premiership coach have his teams written off as "too old, too slow".

And at the end of seven of Cahill's record 10 grand final triumphs, 1990 Jack Oatey Medallist George Fiachhi would be taking the SANFL's Thomas Seymour Hill premiership trophy on a lap of Football Park yelling for the critics to hear: "And too bloody good."

Port Adelaide is the "underdog" or, more accurately, the least-favoured of the AFL's top-five teams for this year's flag. Despite being top every week since the truncated 17-game home-and-away series began with victory on the Gold Coast, Port Adelaide has never commanded the No.1 seed in the power rankings nor has it been favoured in match-up of prospective grand finalists.

It has been defending champion Richmond, West Coast, Geelong and Brisbane.

"It’s almost like we’ve sat fifth (all year on the premiership table), but we’ve sat on top," said Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley on Saturday evening after the 50-point win against Essendon at Adelaide Oval confirmed a top-two finish and two home finals for his top-placed team with one home-and-away match to play.

"Too old, too slow" as John Cahill heard it across the 1980s and 1990s has become this script to undervalue Ken Hinkley's team:

TOO reliant on key forward Charlie Dixon. He is second on the Coleman Medal table for the AFL's leading goalkicker. But Dixon's 31 goals represent just 19.49 per cent of Port Adelaide's total goal count of 159 this season. Also, in the past two matches against North Melbourne and Essendon there have been nine and a record 10 goalkickers in the Port Adelaide line-up, with notable goals from midfielders.

TOO bland in the midfield, that is considered one-paced and without a league superstar ... even though former captain Travis Boak is a leading contender for the Brownlow Medal. 

TOO short in defence where captain Tom Jonas, the revived Trent McKenzie and nonchalant Tom Clurey have been the pillars to the second-most miserly defence (that has conceded just four points more than Collingwood).

So why do the critics not want to say that Port Adelaide is a good thing for this year's AFL premiership?

Why do they ignore Port Adelaide has held top position every week while never losing two games in a row - and playing more matches on the road (always to south-east Queensland) than at home at Adelaide Oval?

"Respect is hard earned," says Richmond assistant coach and Brisbane premiership hero Justin Leppitsch. He has lived this theme as a player at Brisbane almost two decades ago and in the past three years while Richmond erased more than 30 years of failure. 

Respect is hard earned, easily lost.

They are in that hard-earned phase.

The beauty for Port Adelaide is they can stay under the radar and win it while everyone thinks they are no good.

We found that in 2017 at Richmond. Everyone was saying, "They'll get back to the old Tigers; they'll get back to the old Tigers; they'll crumble; they'll be no good, it won't take long, they won't win a final, they'll finish ninth ... blah, blah, blah."

That talk sticks to you for a while until you can get the job done.

In the football world (Port Adelaide) are highly respected. We've seen that first hand when they toweled us up (at Adelaide Oval). You don't need to worry about the Richmond Football Club respecting them. 

The public takes time to catch on.

Richmond assistant coach Justin Leppitsch

Port Adelaide does carry the record of no finals appearance since the home elimination final loss in double extra time to West Coast in September 2017. It has not won a final since beating Fremantle at Subiaco Oval in Perth with a stunning second half in the semi-final of 2014.

And it has lost to Brisbane and Geelong this season. There also have been wins against West Coast and Richmond, in the game of the year at Adelaide Oval. The defeats seem to carry more relevance to the critics than the victories.

AFL 360 and SEN morning radio host Gerard Whateley says Port Adelaide pays the price for being an also ran in 2018 and last season.

"Like Brisbane (that collapsed from second to a straight-sets exit from the finals last year), Port Adelaide has not won a final for some time," Whateley said. "You can't prove yourself until you are in the business of winning finals." 

However, Whateley does make a definitive call in acknowledging Hinkley as the "coach of the year".

"There is not even a debate," Whateley said. "It is not even a contest. No coach came into the season under greater pressure. Few people thought Port Adelaide would qualify for the top-eight finals. And no-one had them leading the competition from the start 

"There is simply no debate - Ken Hinkley is the coach of the year."

But Hinkley would rather have the Jock McHale Medal as the premiership coach rather than the plaudits for taking Port Adelaide to a point of promise. After all, Alastair Clarkson has never been labelled "coach of the year" yet he has four McHale Medals for taking Hawthorn to flags in 2008, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

It proves again, premierships are remembered forever ... and predictions are there to be dismissed. Ask John Cahill.

Richmond, West Coast, Geelong. They deserve the praise they're getting. They've been there before. They have played big games. We're trying to earn back some trust and respect after missing finals the past few years.

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley

ROUND 18

Collingwood v Port Adelaide

DEFENCE wins premierships. And finals are played with a stronger defensive edge.

Port Adelaide's home-and-away season closer stands as a trailer to the top-eight finals series starting after next weekend's bye.

Collingwood has worked the most-defensive game of the season, building the league's tightest defence that has conceded an average 51 points in 16 matches. Port Adelaide is just as tight - also with a 51-point average - but the gameplan has been balanced by the league's No.2 attack.

Port Adelaide's defence this season has been built on the pillars of captain Tom Jonas, Trent McKenzie and Tom Clurey. This closely connected trio is broken up this week by the hamstring injury to Clurey.

Pressing for this new-look Port Adelaide defence is to take in the invaluable lessons left from the clubs' previous meeting in round 7 last season when Collingwood opened with 13 shots - and 7.6 for a 45-point lead at quarter-time in a match finished at 39 points. Jordan De Goey scored just one goal.

The Gabba - the newest AFL grand final venue - gets a Monday Night Football finale to a home-and-away season that has drawn much commentary on how defence has ruled during a shortened game and shortened qualifying campaign.

But Australian football is still about winning scores rather than draws.

Port Adelaide's attacking game - and determination to hold the ball in the forward half - stands as a major test of Collingwood's defensive strategies. And it is not just about loading up opportunities to key forward Charlie Dixon.

External concerns that Collingwood does not have a suitable attacking edge certainly changed last week with the mix of tall American Mason Cox and the opportunist De Goey.

In between this question of which attack delivers the most against two proven defences is an equally revealing midfield battle.

Port Adelaide lead ruckman Scott Lycett in another duel for pride with Collingwood counterpart Brodie Grundy in a rivalry that gained a significant edge during the 2018 AFL grand final when Lycett was part of West Coast's premiership-winning midfield.

Collingwood captain and AFL elite midfielder Scott Pendlebury takes the honour of his club's most-capped player from premiership captain Tony Shaw (313 games, 1978-1994).

Former Port Adelaide captain Travis Boak, in his 281st game, gets to guide his team to its best home-and-away finish since his debut season in 2007 ... and possibly add more to his Brownlow Medal chances. The AFL's highest individual award will be presented on Sunday, October 18 - six days before the grand final - this year with no black-tie dinner in Melbourne. 

Vice-captain Ollie Wines should anticipate more attention on the back of his impressive form in the Port Adelaide midfield while two Collingwood players - midfielder Adam Treloar and novice defender Isaac Quaynor - deal with a different form of focus. Treloar is being harshly judged by some critics. Quaynor is the unfortunate subject of debate on the timing of his Rising Star nomination.

Both teams are assured of their berths in the top-eight finals. This match will settle the order - and opponents - for their first finals with Port Adelaide assured a double-chance qualifying final at Adelaide Oval while Collingwood is locked for a knock-out elimination final.

The winner of this match will most probably start the finals with for No.1 ranked defence. It will be considered a significant pointer to the premiership.

LAST DANCE

BEST game by the Port Adelaide Football Club to finish an AFL home-and-away series?

HIT 1 for: Round 23, 2011. Port Adelaide 17.10 (112) d Melbourne 15.14 (104) at Adelaide Oval.

ONE of the tough seasons during Port Adelaide's darkest chapter in AFL company ended with a bright vision for the future - a return to Adelaide Oval. With a Sunday finale to the season, Port Adelaide achieved its third win from 22 games - and avoided the wooden spoon for the first time since 1900 - by beating Melbourne by eight points at the "old" Adelaide Oval.

The 29,340 who filled the stands, terraces and the hill at the northern end left the city ground with pride in their club's success on the field - and off the park for the part Port Adelaide played in setting up football's return to its traditional home at Adelaide Oval. They were back less than three years later in the "new" Adelaide Oval that was redeveloped as a pearl with $535 million.

HIT 2 for: Round 22, 2010. Port Adelaide 18.14 (122) d Richmond 16.16 (112) at the Docklands.

AGAIN, another bright finish to a difficult season in which Port Adelaide lost nine consecutive games from rounds 8-16 and farewelled premiership coach Mark Williams on July 9 with the eighth loss, at Football Park in Friday Night Football against Collingwood.

Interim coach Matthew Primus had collected the Showdown Trophy, had won four of the five games leading up to this season finale and there always is heat in clashes with Richmond that was farewelling Brownlow Medallist Ben Cousins.

Port Adelaide charged to a 57-point lead at half-time on the back of a 10-goal second term. Richmond made it a three-point game midway through the last term before Daniel Stewart, Travis Boak and Robbie Gray scored three unanswered goals to put the margin at 21 points in time-on. The 10-point margin highlighted the frenetic finish. Cousins closed his 270-match career with 21 touches.

HIT 3 for: Round 22, 2004. Port Adelaide 12.13 (85) d Adelaide 9.6 (60) at Football Park.

NO pre-finals bye existed in 2004 when Port Adelaide was entering its fourth consecutive major round with the need to remove the "chokers" tag after failing to convert a top-four finish into a breakthrough AFL grand final appearance.

And a Showdown derby was comparable to a final with its build-up and the heat on the field, let alone the tension that seeps from the terraces.

Adelaide was out of finals contention (with just eight wins from 21 matches) but would have taken bringing down Port Adelaide on the eve of the finals as a sweet way to exit Season 2004, particularly with interim coach Neil Craig.

Port Adelaide had no jitters at the start. Toby Thurstans opened the scoring with a goal in the third minute, the first of five to quarter-time. Port Adelaide led 47-14 midway through the second term. Adelaide won the third term by five points; only one goal was scored by each team in the last term and soon-to-be premiership captain Warren Tredrea collected the Showdown Medal for his 21-touch, 4.2 performance. 

HIT 4 for: Round 22, 2003. Port Adelaide 14.10 (94) d Adelaide 12.6 (78) at Football Park.

PORT Adelaide finished the 2003 home-and-away series with eight consecutive wins - and red-hot form with 14 wins in 15 matches.

Adelaide (13-8, fourth) needed to win to keep a top-four berth while Port Adelaide (17-4) already had claimed the minor premiership with a three-win buffer on second-ranked Collingwood (14-7). 

Sunday afternoon at Football Park gave the AFL a pre-finals cracker. Adelaide opened with the first two goals, Port Adelaide responded with the next three and led by 19 points at quarter-time. Adelaide took advantage of the wins for a five-goal second term with Wayne Carey in attack to lead by nine points at half-time.

Port Adelaide seemed vulnerable with just 10 points to protect as a lead on the scoreboard at three quarter-time. It became a comfortable 22 with Brett Montgomery and Byron Pickett each scoring goals in the first seven minutes - and repeating the dose in the 16th and 18th minutes to keep it at 22 before the Showdown Trophy was collected on a 16-point victory that sent Adelaide to sixth spot.

Port Adelaide midfielder Peter Burgoyne was awarded the Showdown Medal.

HIT 5 for: Round 22, 2002. Port Adelaide 13.12 (90) d Brisbane 13.6 (84) at Football Park.

CHAD Cornes won the battle within the war - the grand duel with Brisbane key forward Jonathan Brown - while Port Adelaide beat Brisbane for the minor premiership in a classic Saturday afternoon clash at Football Park.

Brisbane was top-ranked with a 17-4 win-loss record - equal on premiership points with second-ranked Port Adelaide (17-4) but well ahead by percentage, 139 to 133.6. Winning this game was not only critical to finding an edge in the deep rivalry with Brisbane, but vital to ensure a home preliminary final while the AFL was still committed to just one preliminary at the MCG.

Port Adelaide broke open the game with a seven-goal third term. But Leigh Matthews' premiership empire put up four unanswered goals and did the only scoring to time-on to have the match at 81-77 in Port Adelaide's favour. Justin Leppitsch's goal in the 24 minute put the McClelland Trophy in Brisbane's kitbag on a one-point lead.

Port Adelaide midfielder Roger James once again tormented Brisbane with the winning goal.

Cornes, with 26 disposals at centre half-back, held Brown to 15 touches and just 1.1.

HIT 6 for: Round 22, 2000. Port Adelaide 20.19 (139) d Adelaide 14.8 (92) at Football Park.

SEASON 2000 was far from a satisfying encore to Port Adelaide's first appearance in the AFL finals in 1999. But after a tough start with a 1-1-10 win-draw-loss count, Port Adelaide closed the year with a trophy - the Showdown Trophy - to build great hope for the new century.

Port Adelaide opened the sixth derby with 9.6, but the 53-point lead at quarter-time was just 18 at half-time and 14 at the last change. The seven-goal finish put the Showdown counter at 3-3 on the back of the 47-point win against Adelaide.

Wingman Nick Stevens became the first Port Adelaide player to win the Showdown Medal (with no best-afield trophy presented in the first four derbies across 1997 and 1998). Those retrospective Showdown Medals are another casualty of the COVID pandemic, leaving Port Adelaide defender Darren Mead waiting longer for the appropriate recognition of his work in the first derby.

SELECTION TABLE 

Port Adelaide

JARROD Lienert was the last-minute call-up for the season-opener; he gets much more time to prepare for the home-and-away season closer. Lienert replaces Tom Clurey (hamstring) in defence, after replacing Riley Bonner in the round one clash with Gold Coast on the Gold Coast).

This will be Lienert's fifth AFL game of the season after playing in rounds 1, 9, 11 and 13. His speed and precise kicking will be invaluable in seeking breaks in the tight Collingwood defensive system.

Opportunist forward Boyd Woodcock returns for his fifth AFL game after a solid month in August when he kicked 3.3 in his four matches from rounds 10-13. He replaces wingman Kane Farrell.

In: Lienert, Woodcock

Out: Clurey (hamstring), Farrell

Collingwood

JAIDYN Stephenson regains his place in the Collingwood attack. He returns to the senior line-up after being dropped for the round 17 clash with Gold Coast, sparking speculation he will be open to trade talks at the end of the season.

Stephenson has kicked 12.9 in 11 senior games this season.

The unforced change costs Callum Brown, the son of former Collingwood captain Gavin, a place in the 22. The midfielder is on the emergency list.

In: Stephenson

Out: Brown

BIRD SEED

(the small stuff that matters most)

Where: Gabba, Brisbane

When: Monday, September 21, 2020

Time: 6.45 (SA time)

Last time: Port Adelaide 10.9 (69) lost to Collingwood 15.18 (108) at the Docklands, round 7, May 3, 2019

Overall: Port Adelaide 15, Collingwood 16

Past five games (most recent first): L L W W W

Scoring average: Port Adelaide 84, Collingwood 93

Tightest margin - Port Adelaide by one point (88-87) at the MCG, round 14, July 2, 1999; Collingwood by two points (89-87) at Football Park, round 20, August 18, 2006.

Biggest margin - Port Adelaide by 67 points (125-58) at the MCG, round 11, June 5, 2016; Collingwood by 138 points (159-21) at Football Park, round 20, August 6, 2011.

By venues: Adelaide Oval (2-0), Football Park (7-6), MCG (6-5), Docklands (0-5).

By States: South Australia (9-6), Victoria (6-10).

FORM LINES

Port Adelaide

WWBWWLWWWLWWLWWWW

TOP from the start ... and one victory from collecting the McClelland Trophy as the AFL minor premier for the fourth time since 2002.

A top-two finish is secure, regardless of the result against Collingwood - and two home finals with Adelaide Oval as the confirmed venue. "It’s a great performance by the team - the boys, they deserve it. They’ve been there all year," says Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley.

Port Adelaide has matched its season-opening run of four consecutive wins. The last time Port Adelaide made it five in a row was across rounds 12-16 in 2018. The current streak involves wins against Hawthorn (10 points), Sydney (26), North Melbourne (36) and Essendon (50). Notable in these four games is how Port Adelaide is conceding less each match - 58 to 47 to 42 to 29. It also is scoring more - 68 to 73 to 78 to 79.

Collingwood

WBLWWLWWLLWWLLWDW

COLLINGWOOD all season has carried its own jarring label - too defensive, unable to match the best on the scoreboard and therefore vulnerable.

Collingwood hold the No.1 ranked defence in the AFL. It has conceded just 820 points in 16 matches. Of the teams currently in the top eight, Collingwood is the only side that has not broken the 1000-point count - it has put up 920; on averages, Collingwood has scored just one goal more than it concedes. This is a small margin for comfort.

This dour image did change considerably when Collingwood locked its finals berth last week on the Gabba by beating Gold Coast with Jordan De Goey marking his return from hand surgery with four goals.

In the past six games, Colingwood has built up a 4-2 win-loss record while needing to work through a heavy injury count - losing to Brisbane by eight points and crumbling to Melbourne by 56 points; beating Adelaide (24 points), North Melbourne (30), Carlton (24) and Gold Coast (22).

There has been no win against a top-eight side since Collingwood stunned Geelong by 22 points on July 16.

BLACK AND WHITE

SEASON 2020 - as unforgettable as it is - will be remembered as the year Greg Phillips was finally acknowledged in the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Of the five premiership stars of the 1980s decade to swap the bars of Port Adelaide and the stripes of Collingwood - Mark Williams, Russell Johnston, Bruce Abernethy, Stephen Clifford and Phillips - "Kutchie" is the only black-and-white hero hailed in the national Hall of Fame. (Magarey Medallist and 1992 premiership hero Nathan Buckley made it earlier for his exploits in the 1990s).

After growing up as a Sturt supporter on the Eyre Peninsula country zone managed by Port Adelaide under SANFL recruiting boundaries, Phillips started his 427-game career in black-and-white in 1976. He played 343 SANFL league games in two stints with Port Adelaide, 1976-1982 and 1987-1993 being the mainstay of the team's defence at centre half-back while collecting eight premierships.

In between, from 1983-1986, Phillips wore the stripes in 84 VFL matches with Collingwood - and reportedly cost the Victorian club $300,000 in a transfer fee after Port Adelaide went to the Supreme Court to remind Collingwood it was seeking a contracted player. 

The Collingwood faithful acknowledge "it's not how long you spend at a football club; it's what you do when you are there - (and in) Greg Phillips' fleeting four-season contribution to Collingwood he made a lasting impact on the team-mates around him and supporters who remember him fondly."

Phillips ranked third - behind the winner, Mark Williams - in Collingwood's 1985 best-and-fairest count for the Copeland Trophy. 

Phillips was the Rock of Gibraltar in every defence - and deceptive to those who felt he was anchored. As Clifford says: "From the sidelines, it looks as if Greg is slow because of his (strong) build. But, believe me, he is quicker than he looks."

QUOTES OF THE PRE-GAME

"I just wanted to be known as the ultimate team man and someone who you want to be walking out there with each game."

Justin Westhoff, who this week announced his retirement 

"I said to the team today, if you leave the game of football as respected as this man (Justin Westhoff) is, you'll have achieved great things in life. There is not a person in the football world who doesn't respect the 'Hoff'. He's probably the most-respected person by his team-mates, club and opposition that I have met."

Port Adelaide senior coach Ken Hinkley

"I definitely will be supporting Port Adelaide in the finals - they have been a big part of my life and to see them play well is rewarding. Hopefully, they can go all the way."

Shaun Burgoyne, 2004 premiership hero and Hawthorn great. 

"Port Adelaide has been the best side across the season. They gave us a lesson."

Adam Kingsley, 2004 premiership hero and Richmond assistant coach.

TIP

Port Adelaide by 26 points