Port Adelaide fans may have had their hearts broken in a last second loss to Adelaide, but the performance from a team finding its feet under new coach Josh Carr and of two Power defenders will keep supporters' spirits high.
After playing in 10 Showdowns and winning all 10, Carr suffered his first defeat to cross-town rivals Adelaide in a one-point thriller.
Speaking after the match, Carr heaped praise on All-Australian defender Aliir Aliir (21 disposals, 14 marks, eight intercept marks) for a stoic effort in defence against the Crows.
"(Aliir's) leadership has really stepped up this year and I love the way he approaches every game," Carr said.
"He has really taken it upon himself to be a leader among that group and he has some young guys around him and you can see they are standing up around him also.
"I thought the way they handled the inside 50s against was a credit to (them). Starting with Aliir, what was it eight intercept marks, quite easily if the result went our way he probably wins the medal."
Often maligned defender Lachie Jones has had a steady start to the season and caught the eye of his coach for his efforts against Adelaide's small forward mix of Izak Rankine, Josh Rachele and Ben Keays.
Carr said the 24-year-old 186cm defender is finding his rhythm at AFL level.
"(Jones) is pretty quickly becoming a guy that we can go to that we can put on the best small forward and getting those jobs done," he said.
"I am happy for Lachie because he has been under pressure and cops a lot of criticism externally and his last three to four weeks has been really, really good football. He has had a little bit of a niggle here and there, but he has been able to handle that and still produce some great footy."
