NORTH Melbourne has broken through for its first win of the season after disposing of a disappointing Port Adelaide by 60 points at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

The Kangaroos simply worked harder than the Power, and their willingness to play on and support each other was a feature of the 18.25 (133) to 10.13 (73) win.

The final tackle count told the tale of the day with North applying 60 tackles to the Power's 37 - a competition-wide season low.

Where the Roos' impressed, Port Adelaide disappointed in equal measure.

Sure, they had their moments, but Matthew Primus' men had the blowtorch applied to them after coughing up a large lead to lose to Gold Coast last weekend and they didn't respond in the manner their coach would have expected for the most part.

Too often their kicks found opposition players and when they didn't have it, they didn't work hard enough to exert the required pressure on the ball carrier.

North led by 13 points at the first change and increased its advantage at every break as the Power wilted under the heat of the contest.

One of the few lowlights for the Kangaroos came in the 13th minute of the last quarter when Lachie Hansen crashed head first into the boundary fence after kicking a goal.

The big Roo forward lay prone on the turf for several minutes before he was stretchered from the ground. He was taken to hospital for scans after the match.
 
Influential players
Youngster Hamish Hartlett (29 possessions) was Port's best player, but he received very little support from his teammates. Daniel Motlop kicked four goals, but also gave away some silly free kicks when the game was in the balance.

What it means
Matthew Primus will still be searching for answers from his players. Too few showed any spirit when at least that much was demanded of them. Where to from here for the Power?

The next four
Port Adelaide: Hawthorn (AAMI), Sydney Swans (SCG), Fremantle (AAMI), Richmond (TIO)

Dream Team highlight
Port Adelaide:
Hamish Hartlett was one of the few shining lights for the Power and his score of 106 was the only tally above 100 in the Port side.

The crowd
The 16,014 fans were confined to the lower two tiers of Etihad Stadium and were in full voice for most of the game, but one North supporter let himself down badly when he reached over the fence and made contact with Daniel Motlop's back as he celebrated his third goal. To call the contact a punch might be overstating it, but you just cannot touch the players and Primus promised to follow up the incident through the proper channels.

North Melbourne  4.5  7.12  13.20  18.25  (133)
Port Adelaide         2.4  4.6    8.9      10.13  (73)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Harvey 3, Wright 3, Speight 2, Hansen 2, Firrito, Anthony, Thomas, Swallow, Harper, Goldstein, Petrie, Atley
Port Adelaide: Motlop 4, Ebert 2, Westhoff, Brogan, Gray, Broadbent

BEST
North Melbourne: Goldstein, Harvey, Anthony, Grima, Adams, Rawlings, Firrito, Wright
Port Adelaide: Hartlett, K. Cornes, Motlop, Brogan

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Ziebell (calf), Hansen (back)
Port Adelaide: Daniel Stewart replaced in the selected side by Mitch Banner

SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Jack Ziebell (calf) replaced by Ben Cunnington in the third quarter

Port Adelaide: Jacob Surjan replaced by Mitch Banner in the third quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Leppard, Schmitt, Findlay

Official crowd: 16, 014 at Etihad Stadium
 
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL