PORT ADELAIDE assistant coach Nathan Bassett says his side’s biggest challenge is to keep playing consistently well.

The Power has won its last two games and four of the last five to sit seventh on the ladder with eight wins and four losses – equal with Friday night’s opponent Melbourne.

“We’ve been a bit win loss, win, win loss but we haven’t had a run of consistent footy for an extended period of time,” Bassett said during a press conference on Monday.

“But I do feel there’s change coming from within the group, there’s a maturity from the leaders down, that the guys are going to be unconditional in what they bring and we’ll get to learn more about us this Friday.

“If we maintain our consistency in the way we perform in the contest, which has been pretty strong in general the last five weeks, then it says that we’re turning into a more consistent and more mature football team.

“Our biggest challenge is to keep playing well.”

The Demons come into the game after a bye, having had a six-game winning streak ended by Collingwood on the Queen’s Birthday.

The Power’s last two wins have come against the premiers of the past two seasons in Richmond and the Western Bulldogs, and Bassett said the Demons were another test of how far his side had come.

“Melbourne are a very talented side, an outstanding midfield group, good forwards,” he said.

“Super talented, they’ve invested heavily in high picks and those guys have developed into very good footballers.

“They’re a good young team with some top end talent so it’s a big challenge.

A big driver for Melbourne this season has been the form of ruckman Max Gawn who leads the competition for hit-outs.

Bassett said his battle with All-Australian Paddy Ryder shapes as potentially match-defining.

“Max Gawn with Brodie Grundy are probably the two form ruckmen in the AFL,” he said.

“He can do all sorts of things in the ruck in terms of hitting the ball in a 360 degree and he spreads well so it’s a big challenge for Pat.

“I think he was pretty good on the weekend but Max Gawn is that next level challenge, not just in the ruck but post ruck, Max Gawn finds footy on the outside.”

The Power has four former Demons on its list, including Jack Watts and Jack Trengove who were at Melbourne last year and could offer some inside information.

Bassett said Trengove was close to his first game in Power colours after being the club’s most consistent performer at SANFL level and putting in another best on ground performance against Sturt on Sunday.

Watts played his first game for the Magpies after dropping out of the AFL side and Bassett said there was a chance he could come straight back in to face his former club. 

“He worked on the areas he needed to improve in – he gave a good contest, brought the ball to ground, finished well too,” Bassett said.

“It’s good that there’s some guys pushing for selection.

“There’s always some chance but in saying that the guys that played (in the AFL side) performed well.

“It’s great that we’ve got more than 22 playing well, that’s what you want.”

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