NO-ONE should question the ambition of the Port Adelaide players.

Men who are asked to put their bodies on the line - and every one of them was crunched at Adelaide Oval on Friday night - also have to be mentally primed so that they "exist to win premierships".

Since 2013, the start of the "Never Tear Us Apart" era at Alberton, Port Adelaide players have stood up to the challenge of measuring themselves against the best - the reigning AFL premier.

In 10 clashes with the AFL champion during the home-and-away season, Port Adelaide has a telling 9-1 win-loss count:

2013: Beat Sydney by 18 points in Round 13

2014: Beat Hawthorn by 14 points in Round 10

2015: Beat Hawthorn twice, by eight and 22 points in Rounds 4 and 21

2016: Lost to Hawthorn by 22 points in Round 16

2017: Beat the Western Bulldogs by 17 points in Round 22

2018: Beat Richmond by 14 points in Round 12

2019: Beat West Coast by 42 points in Round 5

2020: Beat Richmond by 21 points in Round 11

2021: Beat Richmond by two points in Round 4

Port Adelaide charged onto Adelaide Oval on Friday night with its merit as an AFL premiership contender challenged by questions left hanging from a miserable performance in Perth six days earlier against a rampant and smarting West Coast unit.

Was this an aberration ... or the opening of a crack where more questions and doubt would fester?

Ken Hinkley's 23-man team stepped off the Oval (or, to be accurate, hobbled) with an emphatic answer delivered in beating the current AFL champion by two points. And it is an answer that Hinkley expects to clear away some other deep stains that have taken time to clear from the image of  "Port Adelaide football".

"We have shown more resilience," Hinkley said while the team medicos prepared an injury report that will become the most-read document in the AFL this week in the lead-up to the away clash with Carlton.

"We have been questioned on our consistency ... on our ability to stay tough.

"You can't keep asking that question about this group now."

The nagging doubt that crept into the commentary last week after the 37-point loss to West Coast will be replaced by new enthusiasm for Port Adelaide meeting its unquestionable ambition to be the AFL premier.

Now the burning questions are on how much harder this becomes for Port Adelaide as the cost of a season-defining win is counted in the medical rooms ... and how difficult Port Adelaide can make a game by its frustrating poor finishing while putting a premiership-winning defence on its back foot with a blowtorch approach to the goalfront.

From Steven Motlop's miss at 19:40 of the second term to Robbie Gray's miss at the northern end on the siren 10 minutes later, Port Adelaide failed to convert seven opportunities at goal - and carried just a seven-point lead at half-time (with the scoreboard almost replicating the final score from the preliminary final, 6.10 to 6.3 instead of 6.4).

And Richmond coach Damien Hardwick lamented his team leaving "some goals on the table tonight" ....

On a night demanding Port Adelaide respond to the questions that followed the team home from Perth came emphatic responses. The midfield re-established its credibility, not only by winning the clearances 36-24 but also by spreading the accountability for Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin at centre bounces. Half-back Dan Houston can certainly play in the midfield.

For the second season in a row, Robbie Gray has become the man to rely upon - and not just for kicking match-winning goals as he did with four minutes to spare on Friday night, less than a year after doing the same after the siren against Carlton. He also perfectly timed his work in the opposition goalsquare with the best behind he has ever scored.

Gray's match-winning kick by the old scoreboard adds to the legend. But even more impressive was the mark under intense pressure and close checking and harassment of Richmond defender Jayden Short.

Port Adelaide started this season with a "squad mentality" knowing the longer home-and-away series (22 rounds rather than 17) and longer quarters (20 minutes plus time-on rather than 17) will test depth of the shortened AFL lists regardless of injury reports.

And the pre-season demand that every Port Adelaide player find an extra role - such as Houston the midfielder on top of his defensive work at half-back - will prove critical against more than just dealing with reduced interchange rotations (75, down from 90).

All these themes mean more today.

As sore as the flesh is at Alberton today, no-one will question what is in the minds of the Port Adelaide players: Grand ambition.