PORT ADELAIDE played its first game in Melbourne since late 2019 on Sunday afternoon and quickly got back to winning ways against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.

Senior coach Ken Hinkley was pleased his side was able to steady their focus and complete the task at hand during a round that had already thrown up several upsets over the weekend.

“It’s always a challenge round one. You’re never quite sure. We saw over the weekend it’s a been a bit strange to read,” Hinkley said at a press conference following his side’s 52-point victory over the Kangaroos.

“I’m just really pleased we were able to travel and come here and win and come home with the points.”

Port’s list management team handed Hinkley some new toys to play with in 2021 with the recruitment of livewire forward Orazio Fantasia and key defender Aliir Aliir.

Both men have quickly made their mark at Alberton and their new senior coach was happy to see them make winning contributions on their club debuts.

“He’s (Fantasia) been a really solid addition to the club, as has Aliir,” Hinkley said.

“In their first game for the club it’s always nice to come in and have an impact and be a part of a win.

“There’s a bright future for us and them together, both boys.”

Meanwhile, Port Adelaide's senior coach was also pleased with the efforts of a young man just beginning his AFL journey, debutant defender Miles Bergman.

“He was good. I thought he did some nice things,” Hinkley said.

“Any first game player who comes into a pretty strong side and can look like he’s part of it pretty quickly (belongs at AFL level).

“We’ve been really keen to get Miles a game and it’s the start of a great career I think.”

When questioned about the difficulties of selecting a side from such a deep and healthy playing list, which is still without the services of regular starters Hamish Hartlett, Connor Rozee, Mitch Georgiades, Trent McKenzie and Sam Powell-Pepper for a variety of reasons, Hinkley said the decision is always to put the group first.

“We’ve got a squad mentality,” he explained.

“The 22 (selected) are the best 22 we pick for the round that we play and that will change week-to-week.

“Good form, really good form, gets you in the team regardless of who is in and who is out.”

There will be at least one change made before Port Adelaide tackle Essendon next Saturday after Riley Bonner limped from the ground in the third quarter with an injured hamstring.

The defender-cum-wingman was replaced by medical substitute Tom Rockliff.

Hinkley confirmed that Hartlett would be available for selection against the Bombers, while also hinting that young forward Rozee could return to football earlier than anticipated following surgery to correct an issue with a joint in his right foot.

“We’re bullish that he will be available for next Saturday,” Hinkley said.

“He did some bike on Thursday, he ran on Saturday and he should progress from there Tuesday and Thursday.

“Part of our planning with the surgery was to get some football into him so if everything went well, which it did, we’d be able to fast track him pretty quick.

“We won’t rush him. He will have to be right because we made the decision for him to have the surgery, so he had the best chance of having a strong season.

"I have got to say I am pretty excited about Connor Rozee coming back into our team as he adds a bit."