Port Adelaide spearhead Mitch Georgiades helped lead his side to a 25-point victory on Sunday over Melbourne, as he notched a personal best seven-goal haul. 

In his most impactful performance at AFL level so far, Georgiades managed eight marks inside 50 to add to his 7.4, moving himself into fifth position in the race for the Coleman Medal. 

Speaking with the Adelaide media on Tuesday, the 23-year-old discussed the team’s current run of form, his injured teammates, and how he’s thriving on the pressure of leading the forward line. 

Georgiades on his seven-goal haul 
“Oh yeah, it was a good weekend. Certainly, the ball moving up the ground helped and I was able to get on the end of a couple of them, which was nice, and kick reasonably straight, which helps. So, yeah, it was a nice weekend and a good win. Potentially (I left a couple out there). I missed a couple of easier ones that I would like to hit, but that's alright, there's always next week.” 

Georgiades on being the spearhead  
“Yeah, I’ve certainly had to step up. Obviously, the start of the year losing Todd (Marshall) and Jack (Lukosius) early on as well, not just me, but the whole forward line in general, having to step up. And I've certainly enjoyed it, the added pressure, and it's something I thrive on and but certainly looking forward to hopefully getting them back sooner as well.” 

Georgiades on getting more attention from opposition  
“Yeah, I certainly think they'll be looking at that, the opposition. But I've also got some pretty impressive players around me as well, Willie (Rioli), Pep (Sam Powell-Pepper), the rest of the high forwards as well. And like I said, hopefully Jack's back as well soon, so that'll certainly help. I think they're all chipping in well and truly.” 

Georgiades on his growth to come 
“Yeah, I certainly still think I'm growing each week and every time I go out there and play against some quality defenders, that's the one great thing about being the only tall forward at the moment, I certainly get to play against some quality players. So each week, learning, getting better and, yeah, looking forward to growing as well.  

“I think that's the great thing. Obviously, plenty of growth left in all parts of my game – goal kicking, just cleanliness around the ground as well. So each week, I'm working as hard as I can on the track to get better. And yeah, I’ve felt like at times throughout the early parts of the season, I've had some good games, and then to have a breakout one like that was certainly nice.” 

Georgiades on his dad kicking eight on debut 
“Yeah, the first message (from dad) post-game was ‘close but no cigar’. So yeah, he's certainly given me a little bit of stick.” 

Georgiades on the pressure to keep winning 
“Yeah, certainly, I think the second half of the season is going to be extremely important. Obviously, putting ourselves in not the greatest position going into the bye, and each week is extremely important and that starts again this week against Sydney.” 

Georgiades on what’s changed since the bye 
“I think going into the bye, we obviously used it to freshen up and to fine tune parts of our game, and we just really focused on the simple things of the contest, the pressure. You put that stuff in place in a game, you're going to put yourself in a chance to win, and that's what we've done over the last two weeks. 

“I think there's probably a bit more kicking in our ball movement and just cleanliness and fundamentals, getting them right. When they're on, it makes such a difference, so I think over the last couple weeks, we've certainly improved.” 

Georgiades on evolving the game style 
“It’s a bit of a combination of everything. I think just in general, it wasn't necessarily our ball movement. It was more our pressure and contest that wasn't putting us in games to win. And certainly, our ball movement has tidied up a little bit over the last couple of weeks, and will continue to get better as well.” 

Georgiades on the injured players 
“Yeah, Jason (Horne-Francis) looks like he'll be good to go. I think Aliir will be touch and go, but we'll just wait and see through the week, see how he goes. Ollie as well, I think in a similar boat to Aliir. Wait and see how it pulls up through the week, and hopefully he’s good to go.” 

Georgiades on having three games in a row at home 
“Yeah, it certainly helps. Obviously, coming off the bye and then three home games now is extremely important. Our fans give us so much energy, and to have them around over the next couple of weeks will certainly help us. And we’ll have a bit of continuity going into the second half of the year.” 

Georgiades on the confidence of the group 
“I think after a couple of wins, you certainly feel a lot better about what we're doing and the things we're doing are doing correctly. So, yeah, obviously, compared to a loss, you're going to be feeling much better. And certainly the second half of the season, we've started quite well." 

Georgiades on Esava Ratugolea’s performance 
“Sav's growth over the last 18 months, and in particular, for the last month or two, he's just grown since he's got back from his injury. He's a man mountain down there. He dominates. And you saw that last week and the week before as well, he's growing into a really great player.” 

Georgiades on Mani Liddy 
“I might leave the leg sleeve to Mani. I think he rocks it well! Great story, Mani, obviously, from the leg sleeve and the troubles he's had in the past with his leg and to come in and play AFL footy, I thought he did a great job on the weekend. Super strong and a contested machine. So, yeah, it was great to see him out there. 

“It's crazy. I still feel like I barely know him, and he's been out there playing footy with us. It's all happened so quickly for him and for us as well. But he's fitting in really well, and he brings so much energy now to the group. He's certainly doing good things.” 

Georgiades on Zak Butters and Miles Bergman’s futures 
“I’ll obviously tell them to stick around as much as possible. But yeah, I love it here in Adelaide. I'm sure they do as well. So I'll be in their ear for sure. More often than not, a lot of the boys aren't from here. So you build this great family around the club – the people, the staff, the players, the coaches, everyone. It's really tight-knit community here. So it's good fun. It's a fun place to come in to work every day. And yeah, there's certainly worse things to be doing.” 

Georgiades on Sydney this week 
“It was a great start last year (against Sydney in Adelaide), and we know they're a quality outfit, and they've got some really strong players in their team. It's important for us to keep building over the next couple of weeks. It's really important for our season, and it starts this week on Saturday.”