SOME of the important takeaways from Sunday's gutsy 23-point win against Sydney at the SCG.

  • While much of the talk has been about Port Adelaide’s new recruits, it is the growth and development of young and inexperienced players like Dougal Howard, Todd Marshall and Riley Bonner where the Power is being well served. Howard stood Lance Franklin and kept him to four goals, showcasing grit, determination and impressive closing speed throughout. Marshall backed up his four-goal round one effort with three against the Swans and impressed in the air and at ground level. Bonner had 18 touches off half-back and bobbed up for an important goal when the game was in the balance in the last quarter.

  • Port Adelaide can be a seriously dangerous scoring side. If you said last year that Charlie Dixon would play ruck and not kick a goal but the Power would beat Sydney and have nine separate goal scorers, most people wouldn’t believe you. That’s exactly what happened on Sunday evening, and when you consider Port’s other talls Justin Westhoff and Jack Watts didn’t get on the scoreboard either and nor did gun recruit Tom Rockliff, it makes the result even more impressive.

  • We saw it last week but he backed it up again in round two. Dougal Howard is very good in defence. The 22-year-old former ruckman/forward moved down back last year and is making himself very hard to dislodge. Last week he had an AFL-record 22 spoils and this week he had 15 while keeping the dangerous Franklin relatively quiet.

  • Port Adelaide’s defence might be unheralded, but what the back six or seven lacks in experience it makes up for with effort, discipline and talent. Howard, Bonner, Dan Houston, Tom Clurey and Darcy Byrne-Jones are linking up superbly with the more experienced Tom Jonas and Hamish Hartlett and the Power can boast the competition’s fourth-meanest defence after two games.

  • Port Adelaide has two amazing leaders in Travis Boak and Ollie Wines. Skipper Boak got busy and stood tall to boot two vital goals and swing the game in his side’s favour in the third quarter. Vice-Captain Wines was superb with 19 contested possessions in a total of 35 touches. He also laid six tackles and had an equal game-high 12 clearances to go with one goal.

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