Port Adelaide has shed the “flat-track bully” title but is still needing to prove itself as a top-four side

PORT Adelaide is beating top-eight rivals this season and winning the closes games, changing the image the Power held last year. But what label will Port Adelaide have by season’s end?

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WHAT label does Port Adelaide deserve this AFL season?

Top-four contender? The Power has beaten Sydney, AFL premiers Richmond and the other team looking for a new label in Melbourne. But it has lost to West Coast and Geelong, rivals on that path to the AFL’s top bracket.

There is none of these “top-four” tests until round 21 - seven weeks away - when the club with the best record against the Power at the Adelaide Oval Portress - West Coast - comes to town. This is followed by a trip to the MCG to play top-four surprise packet, Collingwood.

That fortnight in mid-August - a “mini-finals series” - should be handy for defining Port Adelaide.

Ken Hinkley’s restocked team at Alberton has changed perceptions of the Power.

Last year, Hinkley’s lads were “flat-track bullies” beating up on bottom-nine clubs and failing to collect the points against top-eight sides. Hinkley does not have to own that record this season.

Port Adelaide has a 5-2 count against teams that were ranked in the top eight at the start of the round. The tale of the tape reads - beat Sydney (when the Swans were fifth), North Melbourne (fourth), Adelaide (third), Richmond (second) and Melbourne (fourth); lost to West Coast (second) and Geelong (eighth).

Hinkley no longer has to contemplate his team being scarred for narrow losses as it was last season that is defined by losing the elimination final by two points to the Eagles in extra time at Adelaide Oval.

The Power had a 1-4 win-loss record in games decided by two goals or less last season and 2-5 in matches with margins of 18 points on less.

This season, Port Adelaide is 3-1 in two-goal games; 4-1 in three-goal matches.

So what has changed beyond the dramatic shuffle of 11 players out of the club at the end of last season and the heady run in the October trade market where the Power claimed high-profile players Tom Rockliff (Brisbane), Steven Motlop (Geelong) and Jack Watts (Melbourne)?

Power assistant Nathan Bassett walks and talks to Todd Marschall. Picture SARAH REED

Port Adelaide’s defence - the “no-name” defence - has been remarkable in holding firm against many challenges. Nathan Bassett’s unit has conceded 100 points or more just twice (in the losses to Essendon and West Coast on the road) and is conceding less than it did last season (75-point average).

Port Adelaide’s midfield has greater strength with the “Bash Brothers” - vice-captain Ollie Wines and second-year midfielder Sam Powell-Pepper - working as bulls with insatiable appetites for contested football. But there is greater flexibility for Hinkley and his midfield coach, Michael Voss. This critical gain is still unfolding.

Port Adelaide’s attack is very much a work in progress. But Brendon Lade’s task of delivering greater efficiency - while waiting for greater productivity from the midfield - did appear in his group’s reach in finding a winning score against Melbourne at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.

At this point, the Power can be considered - with a 9-4 record - as a repeat finalist. And there still seems untapped growth in Hinkley’s team. Top-four side? Perhaps.

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