After the humiliation of last weekend's 64-point loss to the Western Bulldogs the restoration of toughness was an obvious focus for the Power this week. Even before the opening bounce of the game skipper Travis Boak, Hamish Hartlett, Kane Mitchell and Brad Ebert all tried to physically assert themselves and Mitchell again put his body on the line to create one of Port's five opening-term goals. Port showed up to prove a point and the GIANTS quickly tried to match the aggression, leading to a spiteful first quarter and a game with plenty of feeling.
2. Ah Chee rises
Port coach Ken Hinkley listed the club's depth of inside midfielders as a key area he wanted to address ahead of next season. The Power have one of the very best in Ollie Wines, but neither Aaron Young nor Andrew Moore have managed to cement their positions in Wines' absence. Brendon Ah Chee is another big-bodied midfielder the club wants to stand up – and that he did on Saturday night. He re-signed for 2016 during the week and played the best game of his career against the Giants, finishing with 25 disposals and three majors.
3. Miss of the year
Rhys Palmer would have wanted to bury his head in the little rubber pellets that line Adelaide Oval when he missed a gimme in the first quarter. There wasn't a Power player inside the GIANTS' forward 50 when Palmer marked 30m out from goal and strolled in for what loomed a certainty. He took a bounce and then another as he approached the goal square only to fumble the ball and get caught by Port's fastest player in Matt White. It rivaled Shannon Grant's 2007 poster for North Melbourne as the miss of the millennium, but at least he made up for his blunder, booting five for the evening.
4. A long wait
Jonathon Patton's had wretched luck since he was drafted by the GIANTS with the first overall pick in 2011, with two knee reconstructions restricting him to just 31 games. He returned from the second reconstruction last weekend but booted his first goal back in the second term against Port. It was a regulation set shot from straight in front, but his teammates rushed from everywhere to embrace him and even coach Leon Cameron congratulated him on the bench before heading back up to the coaching box.
