Triumphant coach Ken Hinkley has praised Port Adelaide's ruthless streak in their 70-point clobbering of AFL strugglers North Melbourne.
The Power consolidated their spot in the top four, winning 19.13 (127) to 8.9 (57) in a Saturday afternoon mismatch at Adelaide Oval.
Port dismantled North with a stunning eight-goal opening quarter which laid the platform for their 10th win of the season.
The result was effectively decided in a dozen minutes, when the Power kicked four unanswered goals and North lost a player to injury - defender Mitchell Hibberd didn't return after hurting a shoulder.
"We were home, and we were pretty experienced against a side that lacked a little bit of experience," Hinkley said.
"But we certainly made our intent known right at the start of the game.
"And when you do that, you get to play the game more on your terms than the opposition."
Port's mercurial Chad Wingard was a key factor in the opening-term onslaught, kicking three goals for the term with fellow small forward Sam Gray slotting two of his four majors in the quarter.
"Today was always going to be a challenge for us against Port Adelaide in form, with their best available team out there on their home ground - there's no doubt about that," North coach Brad Scott said.
"We came out with an attitude that we would just have an almighty crack and ... we were badly beaten around the ball early."
Port's Wingard was outstanding with 30 disposals while ruckman Paddy Ryder dominated Todd Goldstein - the Power tall recorded 37 hit-outs in an influential display.
Ryder's command enabled Port midfielders Ollie Wines (31 touches), Brad Ebert (30 disposals) and Sam Powell-Pepper (two goals, 26 possessions) to run rampant, while swingman Justin Westhoff was prominent with 27 disposals.
The second-last Roos had six players with less than 10 games' experience and were at least able to restore some parity in the second quarter when both teams kicked three goals.
But the visitors were outscored eight goals to three in a tame last half, despite the best efforts of seasoned onballers Ben Cunnington, who collected a game-high 33 disposals, and Shaun Higgins (26 touches, one goal).
North forward Ben Brown booted three goals from limited opportunities and Shaun Atley scored two.
Share
