OUCH! That hurts - on the scoreboard, in the medical rooms and in the guts that was busted in another classic encounter with Brisbane at the Gabba.
Port Adelaide's 11-point loss to a Brisbane that concedes it was taken to the limit at home is painful - and costly.
Despite ensuring there was no repeat of the poor starts that had sunk Port Adelaide in the previous four games to Brisbane; and regardless of a dominating hour across the second and third terms that set up a four-point lead, Port Adelaide has lost the season-opener for the first time since 2015.
And this defeat is costly with injury, in particular the left-knee injury to key defender Trent McKenzie.
The admissions from several Brisbane players that they were challenged to the limit tells Port Adelaide did "turn up to play". The finish, under a wave of duress, will be hard to swallow.
Port Adelaide's biggest lead was 24 points entering time-on of the third term. It was all lost - with scores level at 61-61 - in the 10th minute of the last quarter while Brisbane created momentum with brazen running plays into space that were rewarded with a match-winning five-goal charge.
Brisbane's return to the lead - by six points with eight minutes to play and then 12 - was built on a dropped mark in open space by the Port Adelaide defender with the safest hands, Aliir Aliir. It was a sign that the pressure valve had burst.
Port Adelaide had nine goalscorers - and it was a midfielder, Dan Houston, who was the only player to manage more than one goal. His second was Port Adelaide's lone goal of the last term.
Port Adelaide's new-look attack with the three pillars filled by Jeremy Finlayson, Mitch Georgiades and Todd Marshall finished with just two of the team's 10 goals. Marshall was the first to score a goal, late in the second term to put Port Adelaide in the lead for the second time. The timing of Marshall's lead - to get away from accomplished Brisbane key defender Harris Andrews - for a solid overhead mark on Steven Motlop's kick inside-50, underlines why the 23-year-old carries so much faith from his coaches and team-mates.
Georgiades had to wait until the third term for his first goal of Season 2022 - and will look at the review tape with frustration at the opportunities he let slip.
And Finlayson, who also worked in ruck, is left to wait to deliver his first goal in an AFL premiership season for Port Adelaide since leaving Greater Western Sydney during the trade period last year.
The other new look to the Port Adelaide line-up, Houston on the wing, delivered impressive early form. The former half-back reinforced his delivery is superb, with 75 per cent disposal efficiency during the first half. He finished with 36 disposals - rewriting career best that was 32 (22 kicks and 10 handballs) against St Kilda at Adelaide Oval in round 6 last year on Anzac Day.
Sometimes a team can try too hard to break a vice - and this game began with both Brisbane and Port Adelaide consumed by and determined to deal with their well-noted bad starts. But it was defensive systems - rather than any shoot-out tactics - that made the first term appear as tense as a sudden-death final more so than a season-opener.
Most strange was the reluctance of both teams to work the centre corridor, almost as if they had been warned off by the Gabba curator who is renowned for protecting the centre cricket square. Or they knew - as highlighted at the start of the second term - just how every attempt to put the Sherrin inside the corridor must be precise and the off-season cobwebs on both teams were evident by costly turnovers.
Port Adelaide had just three shots on goal during the first term - Finlayson achieving the team's first score of the season with a behind from a free kick; Georgiades missing everything from a set shot and deep into time-on former captain Travis Boak achieved the team's lone goal of the term by perfecting reading an opportunity from the spills of a stoppage at the goalfront.
The Port Adelaide team that was frantic during the first term was the medical unit that had to deal with a continuous queue of injured men - first midfielder Zak Butters crunched, then experienced forward Robbie Gray (right knee in a knee-on-knee knock with Dayne Zorko) and with greater concern with wingman Xavier Duursma (left collarbone). Medical substitute Steven Motlop was activated at quarter-time to replace Duursma.
In the second term, they had key defender Aliir Aliir checking a right ankle crunched after an aerial contest with Brisbane wingman Mitch Robinson. All-Australian Aliir's exit for the last 15 minutes the second quarter left Trent McKenzie to deal with the growing threat from Brisbane key forward Joe Daniher, particularly in the air.
In the third quarter, it was midfielder-forward Connor Rozee hobbling to the bench - and into the medical rooms. By time-on of the third term, Port Adelaide was demanding more and more time on the field from players finding no access to the interchange bench.
In the last term, with scores level and 12 minutes to play - just when Port Adelaide needed stability in defence - it was McKenzie on a stretcher with a left-knee injury after an awkward landing from a marking contest.
Aliir returned after half-time to counter Daniher while the Brisbane forward was left to forget his error of playing on - with a handball - after a towering mark 10 metres from goal while the timekeepers moved their hand on the red button of the siren. But the challenging assignment of marking Daniher remained for a while with McKenzie, who beat Daniher in their first two marking contests of the third term.
The more fascinating match-up in the Port Adelaide defence was the choice of Ryan Burton - with back-up from Lachie Jones - for the demanding assignment of containing Brisbane livewire Charlie Cameron. While Daniher emerged as a threat with four goals, Cameron did not score until late in the game - after being paid a contentious mark - to restore Brisbane's 12-point advantage with five minutes to play.
Port Adelaide led by four points at half-time - its best result against Brisbane since 2017 when it had a 15-point advantage at Adelaide Oval. Since then, Port Adelaide has sunk to Brisbane on half-time margins of 38 points last year, 29 points in 2020, 44 points and 17 points in 2019.
The difference this time? That all-telling key performance indicator of contested ball in Port Adelaide's favour, 71-64. And Port Adelaide averted another blitz from the Brisbane midfield by winning the centre clearances 6-4 while Willem Drew again proved his shadow is capable of testing more and more of the game's stars.
Despite Brisbane highlighting the contested figures on its team whiteboard at half-time, Port Adelaide did not wilt. The contested-ball (107-99) and centre-clearance (10-7) advantages held at the last change when Port Adelaide had extended its lead to 15 points and was holding accuracy (9.7) on the scoreboard.
At the end, a Brisbane team that was challenged to respond did - and fiercely. The numbers tell the final story. Brisbane had won the contested possessions (141-139) and the clearances (42-39).
Port Adelaide has vowed to learn from its mistakes - rather than be weighed down by recent failings. For three quarters, it was delivering a strong first impression at a venue that has tormented visiting teams since Brisbane's revival as a top-four team under Chris Fagan.
Port Adelaide left the Gabba in pain, and as another scalp for an impressive Brisbane unit that has lost just two of its past 31 games at home.
PORT ADELAIDE AT BRISBANE
PORT ADELAIDE 1.1 5.4 9.7 10.9 (69)
BRISBANE 2.2 4.6 6.10 12.9 (80)
BEST - Port Adelaide: Houston, Burton, Boak, Wines, Butters, Byrne-Jones.
GOALS - Port Adelaide: Houston 2, Amon, Boak, Drew, Georgiades, Marshall, Motlop, Powell-Pepper, Rozee.
INJURY: Xavier Duursma (left collarbone), Robbie Gray (right knee), Aliir Aliir (right ankle), Trent McKenzie (left knee).
MEDICAL SUB: Steven Motlop (activated at quarter-time for Duursma).
NEXT at Adelaide Oval v Hawthorn on Saturday night (7.10 start).
