On the game

Bar one quarter it was a pretty solid game of football, both teams going hard at each other. Their ability to control in the third quarter to control the game is what won it for them. They [Hawthorn] got some centre bounce ascendency, they got some territory, they kicked the ball off the ground a fair bit [and] a pretty strong method around the footy. 

Once they set-up in their front half they are hard to penetrate back the other way.

We can beat Hawthorn. We've been able to do that. But they [Hawthorn] deserve their ranking and rating at the top of the pops - they're a good side. It's frustrating sometimes when you know that you're capable, but you just can't get it.

On how Port went about it

I thought we stuck to task a bit. We went on the field against a great opponent and we knew there were going to be some challenges. We didn't go away from those challenges, we welcomed them. We forced them to play some of their better football.

On the season

[The game] says our best is around the mark, but if you don't do it consistently for four quarters you're probably not going to beat the best.

You never say never, you just keep at it. Footy seasons do strange things at strange times. It looks obvious to most, but we're not going to give it away yet.

On the backs

In our back half, we have Tommy Clurey playing his second game for the year, Logan Austin in his fifth or sixth, Darcy Byrne-Jones in his 12th or 13th. We're young down there. There's Cyril [Rioli] who was pretty exciting, Breust, Gunston. Puopolo as well.