Ken Hinkley admits he felt like the world was against Port Adelaide this week and the proud coach has hailed the character of his players after a morale-boosting 33-point win over North Melbourne.
Jared Polec starred with 34 possessions and Sam Gray kicked four goals as the Power bounced back from consecutive losses with a 15.12 (102) to 10.9 (69) win in front of 17,617 fans at Etihad Stadium.
Port dealt with more than their fair share of adversity in the lead-up to the Saturday clash.
A difficult week included the messy falling out between chairman David Koch and the AFL over Sam Powell-Pepper, the family tragedy of Todd Marshall and a season-ending knee injury to Hamish Hartlett.
"I'm really proud of the team ... that was as tough a week as you get in a footy club," Hinkley said.
"It felt a bit like the world was ganging up on us and to their credit they stuck together out there and they ganged up back.
"They had a real crack and played really good footy."
North's impressive early-season form saw them in the top four going into the clash but the Power simply had more contributors.
Brad Ebert (33 possessions and 11 tackles) and Travis Boak (29 disposals) were influential at the stoppages, while Charlie Dixon took the honours against against in-form North ruckman Todd Goldstein.
Tom Jonas did a good job on the significantly taller Ben Brown for the most part but the star Kangaroos spearhead still booted four goals.
Hinkley's men didn't surrender the lead after Chad Wingard kicked his first goal midway through the first quarter, increasing their lead at each break to secure their fourth win of the season.
But in a blow for Port, Wingard hobbled to the bench in the final term with a hamstring injury after kicking his second goal.
The Power got the contest going their way in a hotly contested opening term.
"We've been a pretty good starting team and we were beaten early," Roos coach Brad Scott said.
"We were beaten to the ball and allowed them to control it.
"I thought we got those things back on track after quarter-time but it was a bit of a slow burn today ... they just kicked four goals a quarter and chipped away at us.
"It didn't feel like there was a wave of momentum going against us but we couldn't get the momentum going our way either."
Ben Cunnington was North's best player, with 27 touches and seven clearances.
Power defender Darcy Byrne-Jones was reported for a hit on North skipper Jack Ziebell, who was quiet with just 11 possessions.
Port head west to take on the Eagles at Optus Stadium in round seven, while the Roos travel to Sydney to clash with the Swans at the SCG.
