EVEN before the first bounce - to a game that had a pre-ordained result - the Champion Data analysts had dusted down a well-worn label for the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Flat-track bullies. The graphics on the Fox Footy screens were as predictable as the match result from Metricon Stadium.
It is time to put some meaningful perspective on a badge that Port Adelaide can wear as a symbol of progress in its driving ambition for greatness.
Port Adelaide's 9-4 win-loss count to round 14 - after beating Gold Coast by 50 points on the road on Saturday afternoon - is made up of eight wins (a perfect 8-0) against bottom-10 teams.
This means Port Adelaide - unlike in 2018 and 2019 when it wore the label of the AFL's most inconsistent (and perhaps unreliable) team - has successfully progressed from that frustrating no-man's land on the edge of the national league's top-eight rankings.
In 2018, Port Adelaide ranked 10th with an 11-11 win-loss record. It had an 8-4 count against bottom-10 teams. The costly losses to non-finalists were to Fremantle in Perth by nine points in round 17 (when Robbie Gray was lost to a head-thumping tackle on the boundary line and opposition coach Ross Lyon strangled the Port Adelaide midfielders) and to Adelaide by three points in round 20 in that Showdown decided by Josh Jenkins' post-scraping goal at the northern end of Adelaide Oval.
In 2019, Port Adelaide placed 10th with a 12-10 win-loss record. It had an 8-4 count against bottom-10 sides. The irreparable damage to this season's once-promising campaign was done on a Saturday night at the Docklands in Melbourne against 14th-ranked North Melbourne in round 20. The 86-point loss dragged Port Adelaide from eighth to 11th and deflated the team's percentage (and optimism) that crumbled from 109 to 103.
In 2018 and 2019, Port Adelaide missed finals because it was not a flat-track bully. It could not be trusted to win the games in which it began as favourites. It was "consistently inconsistent".
In 2020 and 2021, Port Adelaide has progressed from a frustrating "also-ran" to a "good" team that can be relied upon to chase greatness in September's top-eight finals.
"And there is a bit to improve still," says vice-captain Ollie Wines, who has personally progressed from good to eyeing greatness as an elite midfielder.
Wines' top-four counts for possessions in his 171-game AFL career that began with the Ken Hinkley era in 2013 are all from this season -
4. 36 v St Kilda, round 6 at Adelaide Oval
3. 37 v Brisbane, round 7 at the Gabba
2. 38 v Essendon, round 2 at Adelaide Oval
1. 43 v Gold Coast, round 14 at Gold Coast
Wines' career-best figures at the weekend - that fell two short of Peter Burgoyne's club record for AFL disposals set against North Melbourne at the MCG in round 22, 2008 - are more admirable because they were achieved in an old-fashioned duel of midfielders. Wines v Gold Coast's best-performed player of the season, Hugh Greenwood (16 touches); and Willem Drew (27 disposals) v Gold Coast's brightest young star, Matt Rowell (21 touches).
Port Adelaide did as was expected at Gold Coast - something that might not have been said in 2018 and 2019. Being flat-track bullies in 2021 means there is more assurance in forecasting Port Adelaide as a top-eight finalist for September. There should not be a stumble to a non-contender such as Adelaide or Fremantle or North Melbourne in a repeat of the 2018 and 2019 nightmares.
The 50-point margin on Saturday - that put Port Adelaide back in the top four with percentage being boosted from 118 to 122.9 - was just as expected, even if there will be raised eyebrows at the lone, last-quarter goal that did not come until there were just 4:15 to play under sunshine at Metricon Stadium.
"... there is a bit to improve still," said Wines, who took issue with Gold Coast winning the clearances 40-39.
From the round 13, 21-point loss to finals rival Geelong at home, there was significant improvement in two key aspects of Port Adelaide's game - defence and effective transition from defence to attack (and to the scoreboard with 8.2 coming from plays started in the back portion of the field).
The 31 points conceded is the lowest score against Port Adelaide this season (10 days after conceding the highest score of 112 points to Geelong). The intercept marks in defence - again the hallmark of Aliir Aliir's game and the competitive spirit of captain Tom Jonas - corrected failings noted against Geelong at Adelaide Oval.
"The backs intercepted everything," said Wines.
And they moved the ball to ever eager key forward Charlie Dixon without costly turnovers too. On this note, Port Adelaide's manic pressure towards Gold Coast rivals - highlighted by smothers made by Connor Rozee and Kane Farrell and a second-quarter tackle by Rozee on Noah Anderson - generated turnovers and 10.4 on the scoreboard.
Being flat-track bullies has its moments.
The horrible notes from this match are on the injury report.
The football gods who should have sat back to admire Robbie Gray in his 250th AFL match betrayed the master. His left-knee injury is all wrong on a day that should have been memorable for joyous reasons. The silver lining of this ill fortune is the sound return of Hamish Hartlett to the Port Adelaide defence.
The injury list claims first-year defender - and now half-forward - Lachie Jones for the third time ... and again with a hamstring injury.
Those reinforcements expected soon with the resumption of competitive football action from Xavier Duursma et al are becoming more and more needed. More so if Port Adelaide is to continue the progress from no man's land of 10th spot in 2018 and 2019 to be more than a reliable finals contender in 2021.
Port Adelaide is good ... and it needs to be even better.
As Wines said: "There is a bit to improve still." But at least Port Adelaide is not stumbling by inconsistency.
