EVERY AFL game is important. It's just some games are more important than others, such as this home-and-away closer against the Western Bulldogs in Melbourne in Friday Night Football.

Win - and Port Adelaide backs up last year's minor premiership with another top-two finish to earn a qualifying final at Adelaide Oval for the second consecutive season. The fixture masters at AFL House in Melbourne would be relieved considering the complications in finding venues with crowd access for the top-eight finals series while Victoria and New South Wales are in COVID-19 lockdowns.

Lose - and Port Adelaide will stay in the top four, but be put on the road, in a mystery tour to an uncertain location that could range from Hobart to Brisbane and even Perth, for a qualifying final against either Melbourne or Geelong.

More pressing in the fall-out of defeat at Marvel Stadium in west Melbourne would be the line: "Port Adelaide has not beaten a top-four side this season." It is a return to the start of the 2000s when Port Adelaide had to conquer the "chokers" tag to win the 2004 AFL premiership.

"Everyone has every right to throw that and talk about that," says Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley of the top-four niggle. "We can't deny that. We will be doing everything we can to stop it, but more importantly we will be doing everything we can to continue to build momentum going into the finals."

Port Adelaide plays the fourth-ranked Western Bulldogs for the second time this season after losing the round 9 fixture at Adelaide Oval by 19 points, after conceding a six-goal start and bringing the game back to one point at half-time.

For context - or new perspective for a new game - Port Adelaide was without lead ruckman Scott Lycett (suspended), midfield options Zak Butters and Xavier Duursma by injury and lost key defender Tom Clurey to injury during the battle.

This time, it is not just a different line-up but different possibilities with two ruckmen (Lycett and Peter Ladhams), four tall forwards (Ladhams, Charlie Dixon, Todd Marshall and Mitch Georgiades) and deeper midfield rotations with the growth of Willem Drew and Rising Star nominee Miles Bergman during the season.

The Western Bulldogs are tested by injury this time, in particular by the loss of key forward Josh Bruce to a season-ending knee injury. This has increased expectation - as a forward and ruckman - on Tim English.

While the make-up of the two pacesetting teams is different this time, the contrast in the two playbooks remains stark.

Port Adelaide is noted for seeking to lock the game in its forward half - and is now sounder for the intercept marking of defender Aliir Aliir when the play works away from Port Adelaide's half.

The Western Bulldogs continue to create space with a heavy focus on handball.

"We think the way we play and the way we defend or attack gives us an opportunity to win against all styles of football," Hinkley said. "You back in what you have to do. And that is what we will do again."

By this season's numbers, the Western Bulldogs average 158 handpasses in a match (compared with 149 at Port Adelaide) and rank No.2 for working the ball by hand (compared with Port Adelaide at No.9).

To set the tone of the game will require one team to dominate at contests - the ever-reliable barometer in Port Adelaide games. Last time, Port Adelaide lost the contested ball count and the clearances ... and the match while the Western Bulldogs gained so much from their usual sparks Marcus Bontempelli, the ever-busy Jack Macrae and Tom Liberatore. Port Adelaide's midfield options are stronger for this match by the burden on experienced duo Ollie Wines and Travis Boak spread to milestone man Karl Amon, Duursma, Butters, Connor Rozee, Drew and Bergman with Robbie Gray, Dan Houston and Steven Motlop on the magnets board too.

This change is not lost on Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.

"We know how well Port Adelaide have been playing, and how formidable they have been in recent times," Beveridge said. "With some of their players coming back into that team and them moving towards what they consider their best mix, we’re coming up against a very, very good football side."

Across the season, Port Adelaide is winning more contested possessions than the Western Bulldogs (138 to 134) but ranks lower on stoppages (22 to 26).

So this pre-finals "final" is very important. In a season when Port Adelaide has searched for greatness - rather than just being good - the test of its merit in the premiership race rises another notch.

"We are about to get tested fully (in finals)," Hinkley said. "We will be tested to see if we can graduate to a level we feel confident we can perform at. The body of work we have delivered would suggest that we still have to pass the test (from being good to great).

"We think we are going and building in the right direction. Proof is in the pudding."

BIRD SEED

(the little stuff that counts most)

Where: Marvel Stadium, west Melbourne

When: Friday, August 20, 2021

Time: 7.20pm (SA time)

Last time: Port Adelaide 12.5 (77) lost to Western Bulldogs 15.6 (96) at Adelaide Oval, round 9, May 15 this year 

Overall: Port Adelaide 17, Western Bulldogs 15

Past five games (most recent first): L W L W W

Scoring average: Port Adelaide 95, Western Bulldogs 95

Tightest margin - Port Adelaide by 12 points (94-82) at Princes Park, round 12, June 14, 1997; Western Bulldogs by three points (100-97) at Adelaide Oval, round 12, June 11, 2016.

Biggest margin - Port Adelaide by 86 points (147-61) at Marrara Oval, Darwin round 20, August 14, 2004; Western Bulldogs by 93 points (137-44) at Marrara Oval, round 12, June 13, 2009.

By venues - Adelaide Oval (4-3), Football Park (6-3), Princes Park (1-1), Docklands (2-4), Eureka Stadium, Ballarat (2-0), Marrara Oval (2-4).

By States and Territories - South Australia (10-6), Victoria (5-5), Northern Territory (2-4).

PORT Adelaide is, somehow, assured of a top-two spot on the AFL ladder.

For almost the entirety of Friday night's clash with the Western Bulldogs, that thought – and the idea of a guaranteed home qualifying final at the Adelaide Oval next week – looked a distant possibility.

But yet another spirited win, this one to the tune of just two points and architected by the brilliance of star trio Travis Boak, Ollie Wines and Robbie Gray, has the travelling Port Adelaide group ready to kick their heels up for the rest of the weekend.

Power eyes can now be fixated on Saturday night's clash at GMHBA Stadium to see who their opponents in next week's qualifying final will be, after Bailey Smith's last-gasp effort from beyond 50m fell narrowly short at Marvel Stadium.

The fact it was rushed through by Port Adelaide defenders, instead of sailing through for a match-winning goal, means the Western Bulldogs will conversely be sweating on Saturday afternoon's clash at the Gabba. A win for Brisbane, and a boost in percentage of just 0.1, will see a top-four spot slip from the grasp of Luke Beveridge's side.

Instead, it was Port Adelaide celebrating the prospect of a relaxing weekend. Boak (31 disposals, two goals) and Wines (34 disposals, nine tackles) had been supreme all night to set up the comeback win, while Gray's class was reflected in his 25 touches, two majors and his late match-sealing effort.

The fightback had been forced after a statement start from the Bulldogs, who had Marcus Bontempelli outwork Wines to the footy for the first and Aaron Naughton outfox direct opponent Aliir Aliir on the lead for another. When Tim English and Josh Dunkley rammed home two more, alarm bells were ringing.

Jack Macrae (29 disposals, six tackles) and Lachie Hunter (22 disposals, one goal) were busy all night and had their fingerprints all over the game's early stages, as the Bulldogs rushed out of the blocks.

Port Adelaide, having kicked 19 consecutive goals to finish last week's victory over Carlton, had suddenly conceded four straight majors to start its very next match and eyeballed a daunting 22-point deficit midway through the opening term.

But the Power soon earned a modicum of control within the contest, using it to stem the bleeding. The game went almost half an hour without a goal on either side of quarter-time, as scoring dried up and a frantic start grinded to a halt.

Next, they just needed to apply the scoreboard pressure to match. Having seemed as though they would edge their way back into the game through behinds in the second term, consecutive goals from Gray, Peter Ladhams and Connor Rozee after half-time drew the two sides level.

All of a sudden, the Western Bulldogs needed a steadier and turned to youngster Cody Weightman to provide it. The impressive 20-year-old drilled one himself from an acute angle, before putting two more on a plate for English and Laitham Vandermeer to restore the home side's crucial buffer.

It was bitterly disappointing for Port Adelaide, which again missed crucial opportunities in front of goal at one end and conceded against the run of play at the other. Adam Treloar's pinpoint set-shot, after a period of Power territorial dominance to start the final term, reflected a night of frustration to that point for the visitors.

But the manner in which their leaders stood tall in the following minutes, with Wines and Boak both angling through difficult shots with inventive kicks, also showed their willingness to consistently fight back.

Gray's second, set up by Boak's brilliance, then gave Port Adelaide its first lead of the night with a tick under five minutes on the clock. This time, as opposed to the rest of the night, a lengthy goal drought would work in their favour.

And so it proved, as Smith's long-range effort with just 11 seconds remaining on the clock came off the fingertips of Naughton and a host of Power defenders to ensure finals football will be heading to the Adelaide Oval next week.

Big blow as Port loses Rising Star hopeful
This was not the way Mitch Georgiades wanted his season to end. After a thrilling year, where the Port Adelaide forward has emerged as a genuine NAB AFL Rising Star candidate following a 32-goal campaign, Georgiades limped from the field in the third term with a left hamstring injury and was forced to be substituted out of the contest. With the pre-finals bye scrapped this season due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the teenager now appears almost certain to miss next week's qualifying final at the very least. Whether he returns at all in 2021 remains to be seen and could depend on just how far the Power's journey lasts this September. 

Dogs sweat as Naught is placed on report
From a selection point of view, key forward Aaron Naughton is almost the last player the Western Bulldogs can afford to lose during the finals. But there will be some nervous moments on Saturday morning, as the Match Review meets to analyse his report for a dangerous tackle on Port Adelaide skipper Tom Jonas. Continuing to grapple with his opponent after the umpire had blown his whistle for a ball-up, Naughton will perhaps strike lucky in the sense Jonas' head never appeared to make contact with the turf after he was driven into ground. It should be enough for the charge to be thrown out. 

A nervous wait faces the Dogs
Port Adelaide's victory guarantees Ken Hinkley's side a home qualifying final, but defeat leaves the Western Bulldogs at risk of dropping out of the top-four. The Power will finish second regardless of the result between Geelong and Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night. As for the Dogs, they now need results to go their way across the weekend to secure a double chance. If Brisbane beats West Coast, the Lions will leapfrog Luke Beveridge's side into the top-four. Even if they don't, Sydney could do so with a significant percentage-boosting win over Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon. It's sure to be a nervous weekend ahead for the Bulldogs.

WESTERN BULLDOGS    4.1     5.3      9.3       10.4 (64)
PORT ADELAIDE             1.3     1.8     6.10       9.12 (66)

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: English 2, Bontempelli, Naughton, Dunkley, Johannisen, Weightman, Vandermeer, Hunter, Treloar
Port Adelaide: Rozee 2, Ladhams 2, Boak 2, Gray 2, Wines

BEST
Western Bulldogs: Macrae, Hunter, Daniel, Dale, B.Smith, Treloar
Port Adelaide: Boak, Wines, Gray, Lycett, Rozee, Amon

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Port Adelaide: Georgiades (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Schache (unused)
Port Adelaide: Mayes (replaced Georgiades)

Crowd: 0 at Marvel Stadium