PORT ADELAIDE has a new barometer - one as old as the club itself.
"We get down, we get going, we play hard footy as best as we possibly can," said senior coach Ken Hinkley of the shift in Port Adelaide's results from an unconvincing pre-season to now the league's strongest form line.
"For us, reality is we are a hard-working team that needs to get down and be playing tough, hard football. That is the way we play our game and it is the way we survive.
"We don't ever try to be any different; we work hard to be hard."
Port Adelaide will seek to extend its winning sequence to five - the club's best since closing the 2021 home-and-away series with six wins.
"Effort and energy," says Hinkley are the stand-out features of the team's transformation since the fall in Showdown LIII in round 3. "We have had that buy-in to hang in games and work hard the whole way."
Port Adelaide will be seeking its sixth consecutive win against Essendon in a streak that began in August 2019. This includes wins at Adelaide Oval by 54, 50 and 59 points.
Port Adelaide will confirm its match 22 on Friday evening and nominate its tactical substitute on Sunday. Captain Tom Jonas will return from suspension and key forward Todd Marshall has cleared the concussion protocols.
So far, the only cut from the 23 who beat then league-leading St Kilda at the Docklands on Friday is injured wingman Xavier Duursma who will have as many as 10 weeks on the sidelines recovering from posterior cruciate ligament damage to a knee.
"We still need to work through training (at Alberton) today; there are things we still need to cross off so I can't give absolute clarity of how we will go," Hinkley said.
"If Tom and Todd get through training, you can expect them to be in the 22. We will make our decisions after training (on Friday)."
The key notes from Hinkley's weekly media conference are:
FREE KICKS: After putting on the public agenda the need for clarity from the AFL umpiring unit on why his players have the largest negative differential on free kicks, Hinkley was bound by a league memo this week asking clubs and coaches to avoid commentary on umpiring.
"(Football chief) Chris Davies certainly has had conversations with the AFL (umpiring department) to get some direction," Hinkley said.
"We have learned we have plenty to work on - and we knew that," added Hinkley with the clarity on the high count of holding-the-man calls against Port Adelaide based on "what we do pre-clearance."
"It is around the stoppages - and we have to be aware of what we are doing," Hinkley said.
BENCH OR THE BOX: "Unaware and uneducated," Hinkley says of the perception he had conceded control of the match-day tactical moves to be a motivator by his move to the bench in round 3.
"If you think that is how it operates - by a coach being on the ground - that there are any less conversations going on between the coaching staff (you are wrong). You need to remember that people try to identify one person - the head coach usually - as the only part of that conversation. It has never been that way whether I am up in the box or down on the ground.
"We work as a team. And my (coaching) team is really strong. We use all our coaches to make the team better.
"(On the ground) there is some genuine connection and that is strong for us. We have a new, younger, emerging midfield that we need to have calm. And even with experienced guys such as Travis Boak, it helps them to have clarity quite quickly. You do get a different feel at ground level. Last week, I felt there was stuff you could have missed by being upstairs."
OPPO WATCH: Essendon returns to Adelaide Oval to regain the charge from its strong win against Melbourne in Gather Round last month. The transformation under new coach Brad Scott is true to his North Melbourne record of valuing defence.
"They are playing a really aggressive game of football," Hinkley said of the ninth-placed Essendon (4-3). "We know the challenge that is in front of us - we saw that in Gather Round. They are a significant part of the competition this year.
"Brad is certainly coaching a more defensive team than Essendon have been in the past. They are defending the game a bit harder. It is a different style of football you are going to face from Essendon this year."
RUCK OPTIONS: Port Adelaide will again work a hybrid mix with Brynn Teakle, Jeremy Finlayson, Charlie Dixon, Sam Powell-Pepper and Ollie Wines against Essendon's pairing of Sam Draper and Andrew Phillips, if it even stays as a two-ruck unit from the opposition.
Port Adelaide's most-experienced ruckman Scott Lycett was ruled out by the fall he had early in the Port Adelaide SANFL win against West Adelaide in the Russell Ebert tribute match at Loxton on Sunday.
"Scott was hurt and we are waiting to see if he will get up to be able to play (SANFL) on Saturday," Hinkley said. "That put him out of the equation. We are pretty comfortable with our ability to play one ruck."
CHARLIE DIXON: "Charlie is fine," said Hinkley of his key forward who has battled a knee injury. "He is in much better shape with the nine-day break. That has made a massive difference to Charlie."
POWER OF YOUTH: Port Adelaide's new-look midfield is powered by tyros Connor Rozzee, Zak Butters and Jason Horne-Francis who in Hinkley's eyes highlight a new generation of AFL players.
"They are ready earlier," says Hinkley of this trio. "They are more capable of coming into a professional competition with effort, preparation. They come ready to play. That makes a difference."
TACTICAL SUB: Hinkley is not opposed to the 23rd man being named at selection. "It probably makes sense," said Hinkley of the need to avoid a player being "dropped" when he is actually moving from the match 22 to the extended interchange bench.
Sunday’s match begins at 12.40pm.
