PREPARE the popcorn ... and plenty of it.
Even before this Round 10 clash with Collingwood at the MCG had its script overwritten by the lingering notes from the home loss to the Western Bulldogs (and similar points made in defeat on the road to West Coast and Brisbane), there were pointers of a match to test the nerves.
Collingwood's penchant for a defence-loaded system has repeatedly tested Port Adelaide's want to score. In the past five matches against Collingwood, Port Adelaide has been finding the clamp turning harder on its attacking plays.
Port Adelaide scored 93 points at the MCG in 2017 and won. It followed up with 98 points - and again won - at Adelaide Oval seven weeks later.
In the past three seasons, the scoreboard has counted 64, 69 and 61 points for Port Adelaide in matches at the MCG, Docklands and in last year's shorter game at the Gabba to have this series finish 2-1 in Collingwood's favour.
So the template is for a tough day when every opportunity needs to earned the hard way. Not a bad theme for a Port Adelaide team that is being plastered with more labels than a fancy liqueur bottle after falling short in contested football to three top-eight rivals, including the pacesetting Bulldogs last week.
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley will sit at the MCG - without popcorn - eager to see his team play "the game we play consistently".
"I am not going to give you anything super exciting," answered Hinkley on his wishes from the director's chair for this potential thriller at the G. "We want to see Port Adelaide play a brand of football that we know stands up pretty well for us and gets us results more often than not.
"We are coming up against a team that is really desperate and that could not have been hammered much more. They have some good players back in their team - Adams is a very important part of their team; Roughead as well.
"The MCG, Melbourne, travel game ... and they (Collingwood) are better than they are (at 16th by the premiership table with a 2-7 win-loss record). They are a really strong defensive team. And we all know, sometimes (when a team is under the pump) you get galvanised by some of the stuff that is going on around you.
"We should expect a pretty damn good Collingwood."
The stoppages will more often than not begin with young Port Adelaide ruckman Peter Ladhams against Collingwood poster boy Brodie Grundy.
"It is a really great test for Pete," Hinkley said of his 23-year-old, 20-game ruckman who replaces the suspended Scott Lycett for the second week of a four-match tribunal penalty.
"It is an exciting test. We have been really excited about Pete's growth as a player and we think this is the ultimate test against Grundy who is an absolute outstanding player and been in pretty good form.
"It is good to see where Pete is at - and he will embrace the challenge. He knows this is a great opportunity to get great learning of his game and to figure out where he is and needs to improve still."
Working against a proven defensive group such as Collingwood will put to the test the connection between the Port Adelaide midfielders and forwards, a concept that was not always on the same tracks last weekend.
This match will mark the first this season without Essendon recruit Orazio Fantasia who is expected to miss just one match with a leg injury.
"They (the Port Adelaide forwards led by All-Australian Charlie Dixon) get pretty frustrated at times ... and they get excited at other times," Hinkley said.
"They also know they have to complete some of the tasks they have," added Hinkley of the missed opportunities, particularly with dropped marks, against the Western Bulldogs.
"When you play against the very best they make you pay (for missing those opportunities).
"But we all play a part in the team, so it is all about the forwards see, what the midfielders see and what the backs see; it is what they do collectively that they worry about."
If Port Adelaide wins, it will mark the 1000th loss endured by Collingwood in VFL-AFL football since the league competition began in 1897.
"Our players know," Hinkley said, "if they don't play tough and hard footy, they get in trouble ... and they don't take that risk.
"We can oversell the background noise ... when the ball is bounced, we have to play and compete real hard - and we will do that regardless."
BIRD SEED
(the small stuff that matters most)
Where: MCG, Melbourne
When: Sunday, May 23, 2021
Time: 2.50pm (SA time)
Last time: Port Adelaide 9.7 (61) d Collingwood 7.3 (45) at the Gabba, round 18, September 21, 2020
Overall: Port Adelaide 16, Collingwood 16
Past five games (most recent first): W L L W W
Scoring average: Port Adelaide 83, Collingwood 91
Tightest margin - Port Adelaide by one point (88-87) at the MCG, round 14, July 2, 1999; Collingwood by two points (89-87) at Football Park, round 20, August 18, 2006.
Biggest margin - Port Adelaide by 67 points (125-58) at the MCG, round 11, June 5, 2016; Collingwood by 138 points (159-21) at Football Park, round 20, August 6, 2011.
By venues: Adelaide Oval (2-0), Football Park (7-6), MCG (6-5), Docklands (0-5), Gabba (1-0).
By States: South Australia (9-6), Victoria (6-10), Queensland 1-0.
